Mickey
by vaughnfan
Summary: Sydney is a new student at her school and coincidentally is paired up with Michael Vaughn who takes on the role of her buddy. If being a new student isn’t hard enough, Sydney struggles with stereotypes, school work and fitting in.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias, the cheerleading songs or Walt Disney's characters._

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_"Oh Mickey you're so fine,_

_You're so fine you blow my mind _

_Hey Mickey!" _

"Oi Weiss! Buddy o'pal! Not cool mate!"

"What's not cool? Us winning the game?" Weiss did a take back and stared at the closed shower door. "That was a big game you know! They were top of the table!

His friend opened the door and walked out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist.

"You tool – not that! The game was awesome. Your singing is the thing that ain't cool. What are people going to think when they pass the showers and hear you singing about a _Walt Disney_ character? You're ruining our 'tough guy' image!"

Weiss rolled his eyes at his friend. "For your information Michael Vaughn, the 'people' wouldn't think that. Dude, they'd know that YOU were in the showers and run over to the ventilation windows and try to see you naked."

"What? Weiss, stop talking crap."

"Ah, I'm not mate. Look, proof." Weiss pointed simply to the windows.

Michael turned to the windows and saw a group of girls huddled around the windows. Caught like deer in a car's headlights, they all froze, turned red and disappeared from view.

"Poor girls," Weiss started saying, "They're never going to live that one down."

"Poor girls? What about me! How long have they been there for? How do they get up there? Those windows are like, eight fee hight! Sugar! I'm not wearing anything either!"

"Ah no worries, you're in a towel. Some girls have said they've seen you in a lot less."

"WHAT!" Michael whirled around and faced his friend. "They've done that before!" He gestured towards the window and to himself.

"Sure. You should be proud. You're like dream therapy – the girls take one look at you, and they dream." Weiss smiled. "Plus, it's common knowledge round here with the whole looking-in-through-the-shower-windows thing."

"What are you talking about?"

"Haven't you ever wondered why the guys get changed so fast after swimming? The girls have exactly the same set up next door..."

"How would you know?"

"Apparently, you didn't let me finish. _Apparently_ the girls have exactly the same set-up next door..." Weiss looked away shamefacedly.

"Oh my god. I'm so embarrassed!" Self-conscious now, Michael hurriedly started pulling on his clothes, being careful not to let the towel droop.

"Ah mate. See that's where you think wrong. As I say – you got it, you flaunt it." And with that Weiss walked over to the mirror above the hand-basin and started flexing his muscles.

"Oh my god!" One of Weiss and Michael's team mates came out of the shower. "I think I'm going to be sick!" He ran to a toilet cubicle, slammed the door andpretended tothrow up.

"Oh! I know you're justjealous!" Weiss yelled out to the closed door.

"Seriously Weiss, I wouldn't do that." Michael said.

Weisss made his last 'muscle man' pose and then pulled a shirt over his head.

"And, you didn't answer my question either." Michael added.

"What question was that? I've forgotten."

"How do people get up that high to see in through those windows?"

"You know Lauren? The head cheerleader girl?" Upon seeing a nod from Vaughn, Weiss continued. "Well, at the try-outs, the girls have to perform these moves where 'someone stands on someone else' type of thing. Even if they don't get in to the team, they have to perfectthe movesfor the trials. So, why waste good talent if you can use it to see Vaughn naked?"

"That doesn't explain how you see the girls though."

"Oh, so you wanna know about that?"

"No, I don't. I just know your not co-ordinated enough to be a cheerleader or do cheerleading stunts, that's all."

"Oh that hurt," Weiss clutched his chest. "That hurt, that cut deep Mike."

"Shut-up you. Are you ready yet?" Michael zipped up his bag and looked around the room once more to check if he had missed anything. "I'm going."

"Wait a minute." Weiss ran clumsily around the room, trying to pick up all his gear. "I'm coming!"

"See ya guys!" Michael called out to the rest of the team, still in the showers. "Good game, I'll see you all at training next week."

A series of grunts and 'ok's' answered him.

Satisfied, Michael walked out of the change rooms with Weiss in tow, only to be greeted by cheering and applause.

"What the!" Michael asked his friend through gritted teeth.

"Hey dude! It was a big game!" Eric pointed out, and then continued to bow and curtsey, lapping up the crowd's attention.

"You are such a loser man," Michael said shaking his head.

"You know you love me. Besides, I'm not a loser. Well, not today anyway. We beat Ferny-side, so I'm a winner!"

"If your nose was any higher in the air... And c'mon! Let's just get out of here." Michael replied, grabbing hold of his friend's arm and yanking him – mid bow – causing him to stumble.

"Hey! That's not cool! Please allow me my three seconds of fame!" Weiss protested.

"Weiss – you didn't even play today. You were on the bench."

"Minor details my friend, minor details." Weiss bowed his head one last time, and followed his friend down the pathway created by the crowd.

'Lo and behold, at the very end of the path, the cheerleaders were standing in position ready to perform.

"Please no!" Michael silently prayed.

"Yes please!" Weiss pleaded outloud beside him.

"1, 2, 3, 4..." Weiss' prayers had been answered, as the sound system started blaring the cheerleaders signature routine music out.

"AMEN!" Weiss yelled, adding a few wolf whistles to, as the girls performed daring aero moves and flips.

Michael stood uncomfortably next to his friend, not wanting to do anything except leave.

A few minutes later the routine had finished, and the girls stood in pose, nodding to the crowd.

"Let's go now please!" Michael pleaded and signalled to his friend.

"Wait a tick, I don't think they've finished just yet."

"Why do you think that!"

"Instinct... Plus, they watched our game today so it's only fair that we watch them. I mean, c'mon! They do all that training and _the_ person they do it for doesn't even wanna watch it. That's just not cricket!"

"That's right dude! It's not cricket. It's soccer. And the cheering?That'snot for me either. I'm on a TEAM. There's no 'I' in team you know. And today WE won. Together. Team work. Team effort. Therefore, it's a TEAM commendation."

"Mike – you are the team," Weiss simply said, shrugging his shoulders.

"So not true." Mike rolled his eyes.

Lauren, head cheerleader relaxed out of her pose and signalled for quiet.

The crowd obeyed and loudly she announced, "And now for our newest cheer, it's dedicated to the star striker – Michael Vaughn!"

"See! Your're the star strike-" Weiss was interrupted by a hard punch delivered to his upper arm by Michael.

"Seriously, you _are_ the one that scored ALLthe goals – the whole six of them."

"Only after they had been set up by everyone else. I'm going now." Michael started to walk away.

"Shut-up and enjoy the show!" Weiss pulled his mate over to the bleachers and plonked him down.

"1, 2, 3, 4..." The starting announcement of the newroutine stirred interest from the crowd.

"M – I – C – K – E Y – M – O – U – S – E. Who's the leader of the club that's made for me and you..."

"Oh my gosh! Why are they –" Michael turned to his friend. "WEISS!"

"What..." His friend replied, sheepishly.

"Why are they singing the 'Mickey Mouse Club' theme song about that '_little Walt Disney'_ character?"

"Because they like Mickey Mouse?" Because..." Weiss' voice faded out when he met Michael's eyes.

"Ahem?" Michael prompted him. "Why?"

"Because you name is Mickey?"

"Who calls me Mickey, Weiss?" Michael prompted him again.

"Somlalk..." Eric mumbled.

"Sorry. I didn't quite catch that. Who?" Michael asked.

"Sophia." Eric mumbled louder.

"And who's Sophia? Tell me Weiss."

"Your little sister." Eric said, staring at the ground. He was silently wishing that the ground would swallow him up.

"And how old is Sophia, my little sister, Eric?"

"Nine..."

"And why does my seven-year old little sister called Sophia call me Mickey, Weiss?"

"Because she likes Mickey Mouse. And when she was younger your dad used to call you Mikey, and she couldn't say that so she called you Mickey."

"So Weiss... Why are the cheerleaders now using the 'Mickey Mouse Club Themesong' as a cheer then? How would they know?"

Weiss let out a painfulbreath. "I didn't mean to tell her!"

"Her?" Michael asked, eyebrows raised.

"Lauren," Weiss blurted out. "Head cheerleader girl. Wait a sec, I'll take that back. HOT head cheerleader girl. She asked me if you had any nicknames and it just came out. You know what I'm like when I talk to girls, especially hot ones. I can't control what I say!"

"I know!" Michaelsaid knowingly. "But I still can't believe you said that.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you will be. Trust me."

"Ohhhhh, I'm scared." Weiss said, pretending to tremble.

"You should be. C'mon let's get out of here. I've got people to see, places to go..."

"Diner on the corner?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

And together, side by side, they walked off towards the diner.

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Author's Note: As most of you will be able to tell, I'm not a cheerleader :) My knowledge of cheerleading doesn't go any further then 'Bring It On' (the movie)so sorry for that. And with the setting, I'm not going to try and set this one anywhere in particular. So if something doesn't make sense about the schooling or something along those lines,please just smile and nod, or tell me, cause I only know what it's like in Australia and it may be different else where. 

Hope you liked it, and please tell me what you thought of it.

Cheers :P

Next time: the introduction of Sydney...


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I don't own Alias

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"Oi Vaughn!" Weiss madly pushed past people in the crowded hallway trying to catch up to his mate. "Vaughn!"

His friend looked up in surprise at the sudden appearance of his buddy.

"Hey!"

"Missed ya at training this morning. Where the hell were you?" Weiss asked.

"Um, yeah, sorry 'bout that." Michael closed the door of the office he'd just come out of.

"Hang on a sec..." A confused look passed across Weiss' face. "Why did you just come out of the principal's office? Is that why you had to miss training?"

"Kinda. There was something I had to do," Michael said hurriedly.

"What! There's something more important than soccer for Mr 'Michael-must-have-nine-hours-of-sleep-before-each-game-Vaughn? Who'd have thought!" Weiss said sarcastically.

"Don't be like that mate. C'mon, at least I gave you warning that I wasn't going to be there."

"A text at 5:30 this morning? I never even knew that there was a 5:30am till I got that message this morning. Besides, it lacked the juicy details of why you were missing training."

"That's because I knew no details." Michael was interrupted by the shrill sound of the ten minute warning bell. "Was Coach angry?"

"No," Weiss said, gesturing to Michael to start walking. "Let's walk 'n talk. Coach seemed to know but wouldn't say where you were. There isn't anything I need to know is there Mike?"

"Nah, not at all. The principal just wanted to talk to me that's all." Michael shrugged his shoulders as if it did'nt matter.

"Is it about Saturday's game? Is he angry about the whole cheerleaders thing? 'Cause I'll talk to him if you want me to." Weiss said, his voice full of concern.

They stopped at their side-by-side lockers (assigned alphabetically), pausing only to throw their bags inside and grab books for their first two classes before continuing on.

"It wasn't about the game, though he did congratulate me on the team's effort." Vaughn stopped for a moment and then started to speak, a smile playing on his lips. "It was just about the whole looking-through-the-shower-window situation actually."

"Oh my GAWD! NO!" Weissstopped in his tracks. "What did you do? You didn't tell him about that did you? 'Cos that's just harmless fun Vaughn, it's not like anyone gets hurt and we-" Weiss' babbling was interrupted by a roar of laughter from Michael.

"Oh geez, the look that was on your face is priceless Weiss! I'm just joshing with you!" Michael said, continuing to laugh.

"Mike," Weiss drew a deep breath. "Never joke about serious things like that." Weiss put his hand on his chest and breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"But the truth comes out now doesn't it, hey?" Michael poked his friend's arm teasingly.

"So what did the principal want?" Weiss asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Subtle there... The principal wanted to talk."

"Duh, I would never have thought."

"Promise not to say anything or tell anyone?"

"Hey! You're talking to Eric Weiss – master of secret keeping."

"More like secret blabbing." Mike said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, that's probably right on par," Weiss said as he shrugged his shoulders. "But that's never stopped you before."

"I know, I never learn."

"So what's this whole secret thing about?" Weiss nudged his buddy.

"I got a phone call last night to meet the principal and it turns out we're getting a new student."

"Really? That's awesome! Is it a guy? 'Cos if it's a guy, we really need a new goalie on the soccer team."

"Hate to break it to you Weiss, but you're the team's goalie. Why do we need another?"

"I just spent a whole morning at training with balls getting kicked at me left, right and centre. One hitting me where it kinda really hurts, so I wouldn't argue with me if I were you."

"Ouch," Michael winced. "Good point. By the way, how's the knee?"

"What knee?" Weiss said, confused. "Oh, I mean, the knee is ok. It was a great idea to sit off from Saturday's game."

"You know if you hate being goalie so much you could come and play in the field. Marshall covered alright for you last week in goals, so he could take over from you. Or you could just quit soccer altogether."

"Quitting is not an option. I need all the girlaction I can get. And I don't think the chicks would recover if I quit."

Michael scoffed in response.

"Be quiet you. And besides, Marshall is..." Weiss tried to think of a good describing word. "-Marshall. And also, playing in the field requires running and I don't run. That's why I'm goalie. And that's why you're going to get the new student to become the goalie. I can be sub then! It makes sense, because usually they pair new students with people who have the same interests. So this guy must belike, gun at soccer! And then he can do all the goalie work and get all the blame when you lose, and I can still get the chicks, the glory and the satisfaction from being in the team! See! It's perfect!" Weiss pumped the air triumphantly with his arm.

"Except for the fact that the new student's a girl."

"Bugger!" Weiss exclaimed, slapping his thigh in the process. "There goes that plan! Oi, then why are you paired up with someone who doesn't play soccer?

"Well, I got given her timetable with some of the info they gave me about her, and it turns out that she does all the subjects I do. Except she doesn't have any spares – she's got grade nine home economics insteadfor some reason."

"Darn, there goes that idea too."

"Weiss? What idea?" Michael asked, even though he knew what was coming.

"I was wondering if she was hot. But if she does your subjects she's not going to be. No-one in there right mind would do all those sciences and maths if they were hot. It's just not cool." Weiss avoided his mate's eyes.

"Hey, that's so cheap mate. And not true. For all you know, she might be real cute."

"Cute and hot are two completely different things. Your sister is cute, but Rachel Bilson is hot! But didn't you get a photo of this chick with her profile thingy though?"

"Nup, they didn't give me one. All that I know about her is her timetable, what she likes doing and where she moved from."

"Mmmm," Weiss said, not listeming. "But she might be alright though, mightn't she? When do I get to meet her?"

"Oh Sugar! I have to go and get her from student services now! Tell Mrs C I'll be in form late, ok?" Vaughn nudged Weiss.

"mmhmm." Weiss replied, not reacting at all.

"WEISS!" Michael said louder, trying to wake his friend from his daydream.

"Yep, tell Mrs C, got it. See ya." And Weiss walked away, leaving Michael standing outside the student services door alone.

Vaughn pushed against the heavy door and was immediately hit with the cool air-conditioned air. The lady at the desk greeted with a smile.

"Michael, we've been waiting for you. Come through to the side office and we can fill you both filled in."

Shivering from a mixture of nerves, cold and excitement, Michael walked into the office space. Sitting next to the counsellor Mrs Tralton was someone that Vaughn assumed to be Sydney...

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A/N: sorry bout the long time, no update thing. The Aus. Open Tennis was distracting!

Anyway, please tell me what you thought, and if you have any ideas in making anything better, feel free to say.Thanks:)


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias.

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_Shivering from a mixture of nerves, cold an__d excitement, Michael walked into the office space. Sitting next to the counsellor Mrs Tralton was someone that Vaughn assumed to be Sydney..._

"Um, hi." Vaughn said, looking at the girl on the couch.

"Hey," she said back, lowering her eyes.

Mrs Tralton, the counsellor cleared her throat and began to speak a tad too enthusiastically. "Sydney, this is Michael – your handler slash carer slash partner in crime. Michael this is Sydney who you are to look after. Please make her feel welcomed. As you might know, she's doing all your subjects and is in all of your classes, so if either of you two have any problems; come straight back to me. I'll let you two talk for a little bit while I go and print out the final documents for Sydney. Ok? Make yourself comfortable Michael, and I'll be straight back."

With that, Mrs Tralton walked out of the office, closing the door firmly behind her.

"So... How old are you?" Michael asked, sliding onto the chair opposite Sydney.

"I'm turning fourteen soon." Sydney answered, tucking a piece of long chocolate brown hair behind her ear. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering... But-" Michael paused for a moment and crinkled his brow in thought. "Why are you doing my subjects if you're only meant to be in grade nine?"

Sydney shrugged her shoulders. "My dad wants me to, and they're fun and easy enough for me to do. Plus I'm in grade nine for home economics."

"Why is that?" Michael asked.

"Oh, only because my idiot of a home ec teacher at my old school tried to fail me." Sydney rolled her eyes.

"Serious? What did you do? At this school it's so easy to pass. See my mate Weiss, he's proof of it – he still doesn't know how tothread a needle – and he passed with flying colours!"

"It was like that at my old school too. But this teacher was a sexist old cow, and I made this sweater."

"You made a sweater! Jeez, you deserve a medal!" Michael exclaimed.

"Yep. I thought so to. But it just happened to that I wrote a message on the front of it which kind of related to her... And she wasn't too pleased. So she failed me."

"Bummer. But you definitely deserve a medal for making a sweater."

"Nuh-uh, I deserved an award! The teacher left after that incident and that was about two months ago. I'm still getting text messages from the kids at school!"

"Must have been a gumby of a teacher then. I hope you don't mind me asking, but why did you move here? I mean, it's the middle of a term and we've got exam block in a fortnight. Are you doing the exams?" Michael hoped he wasn't being too intrusive.

"Nah, it's fine. I'm doing the exams, they'll be ok. But if it was my decision, I would have waited, but my dad was transferred. It was apparently urgent, so we came here." She explained.

"Really? What does your dad do?" Michael asked.

"He works for Jennings Aerospace. Don't ask me what that means, cos I don't know. I've asked him to explain somany times before, but each time the answer gets more and more complicated. So now it's just; he works for Jennings Aerospace."

Michael was about to speak but was interrupted by the opening of the door.

"Ok you two. Time to stop gasbagging now. Form class finished ten minutes ago and you're meant to be in your first class. Sydney, I've organised a meeting next week to see how your first week went. Here it is, and here are the notes that your mum and dad have to sign. Mrs Tralton handed over a card withthe meeting time and also a wad of forms.

"My dad." Sydney said, taking hold of the papers.

"Sorry dear? What was that?" Mrs Tralton asked.

"It's just my dad. My mum's dead." Sydney turned away and packed the forms into her bag.

"Oh I'm sorry. How sad for you!" Mrs Tralton reached for Sydney.

"Um. It's ok. It was a long time ago." Sydney backed away from Mrs Tralton's sympathetic gesture. "Hey Michael? Can you show me where my locker is? I'll put my bag there before class."

"Of course," said Michael, catching the note of urgency in Sydney's voice. "Thanks Mrs Tralton. I guess I'll see you round."

"My pleasure Michael. And thanks for your help. Good luck with the game this Saturday, you played exceptionally last week." Mrs Tralton walked behind her desk and sat in her swivel chair. "And Sydney, same time, same place next week, ok?"

"Yeah, ok. Thanks." Sydney slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Michael out the door.

Michael held the student services door open for her as she wandered out into the empty corridor. Sydney paused, taking in her surroundings and then started walking in the direction of the lockers.

"Don't you hate that?" Michael asked, breaking the silence.

"Sorry? What?" Sydney turned around and was shocked to see that Michael was still standing outside the doorway. "What did you say?"

"Don't you hate that." Michael repeated. "Don't you hate that when they apologise and say they're sorry when it's not like it's going to do anything to help? They're not going to bring them back. And they weren't the reason that they died in the first place. I justhate them saying sorry."

"Sorry isjust asocially acceptable term." Sydney looked down at her information sheet. "Locker 47. Where's that?"

"A little further down." Michael replied, looking curiously at Sydney. There she was, desperate to change the subject, trying every possible way, when he understood her predicament. He decided to keep talking. "They don't seem to understand that it doesn't matter if it was yesterday or ten years ago that you lost someone – it still hurts the same."

Sydney kept walking, showing no reaction on her face what-so-ever.

Michael kept talking, his voice echoing through the empty hallways.

"These people, they don't know what it's like to lose someone who's so close to you. I reckon it changes your perspective on life. I used to-"

"Look. I don't want to talk about it ok? I just want to find my locker and get rid of some of this stuff alright?" Sydney quickened her pace once she had spied her locker.

"I know what it's like, that's all." Michael said, matching her pace.

"What, did your great-grandma die five years ago? Oh no, that's so sad for you. Boo-hoo. What a shame." Sydney bent down to her lock and twisted the assigned combination into the dial.

"Actually no. It was my dad." Michael said, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Oh." Sydney stood quickly and bit her lip. "I didn't know. I just assumed... People always... I'm, I'm-"

"It's ok." Michael adjusted his books. "We should probably hurry up."

Sydney took one last look at Michael, knowing that deep down, what she'd said was terrible. Her stomach sank. One of the first things her mother had taught her was to be quick to listen and slow to speak. Yet here she was, doing the exact opposite to some poor guy who was in the same boat as she was.

"I'm sorry mum," Sydney whispered silently.

She finished quickly at her locker and followed Michael to their first class in solemn silence, unsure of what to say or do to make the situation any better.

"So we have Japanese first." Michael explained to Sydney, knowing full well that she wasn't listening. "Sensei is pretty cool. I'll tell him that you're new and he'll go easy on you, ok?"

"Mmm." Sydney replied, her mind a million miles away.

Michael knocked on the door that they had stopped outside of. Upon hearing a reply from the inside, Michael entered, Sydney in tow.

"Sensei, Osokunate sumimasen. Ohayogozaimasu." (Teacher, Sorry I'm late. Good morning.) Michael bowed his head in the formal Japanese greeting.

"Hai. Michael kun wa, dozo. Ohayogozaimasu. (Yes. Welcome Michael. Good Morning) The teacher gestured for him to take a seat, but reacted when he saw Sydney. "Dare desuka?" (Who's this?)

"Sensei, this is Sydney-"Michael began to say but was interrupted by a surprising voice.

"Sensei, ohayo. Watashi no namae wa Sydney desu. dozoyoroshiku. Watashi wa atarashi no seto desu. Soshite sukoshi kincho o shimasu." (Good morning teacher. My name is Sydney. Nice to meet you. I'm a new student. And I'm a little bit nervous.)

"Hai, wakarimashita." (Yes, I understand.) The teacher clapped his hands with glee. "Sydneysan, nihongo ga joozu desune!" (Sydney, you're so good at Japanese!)

"Iie. Mama desu. Nihongo ga sukoshi hanasemasu." (No. I'm average. I can onlyspeak a little Japanese.) Sydney looked away in embarrassment.

"Honto? iiyo. Boku wa oaide kute ureshii desu." (Really? Well, I'm pleased and happy to meet you.) The sensei ushered Michael and Sydney to their seats.

Just like Michael, the whole class were like stunned mullets, staring in disbelief at the new girl.

"Oh my gosh!"

"What did they say?"

"What the!"

"How?"

"Who speaks Japanese like that?"

The questions were spread around the room like a rapid fire.

"What was that all about?" Michael asked Sydney, trying to talk over the other members of the class. "Did you take Japanese before?"

"No. I went on a holiday there once, and picked some of it up. My dad used to make crossword puzzles for me to in Japanese."

"How long were you there for? You speak it like a gem!" Michael shook his head in disbelief.

"No, not really." Sydney said, unsure of whether she should tell him the truth. "I was there for two and a half months," she said honestly.

"Seriously?" Michael blinked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Dad had this conference thing there, and I was sent to a school there, so I had to learn the language. It was an experience..."

"Too right it would be. Oh gosh! Look at Sensei! His stunned. He's never held a conversation before with anybody who has understood him for that length of time. He usually repeats stuff three or four times to us, then resorts to saying it in English. And still people don't understand him. He's over the moon!" Michael smiled, shaking his head.

"Oh no. Was I too much?" Sydney asked, a worried look on her face.

"No, just a bit unbelievable that's all." Michael said.

A tight smile crossed Sydney's face. "Uh-oh," she thought, "it's going to happen again..."

**

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**

A/N: Woot woot! I updated! And I wrote in another language too! With the Japanese (yes it's meant to be Japanese), I only take it at school, so if what I wrote doesn't really make sense - pretend it does. And if the translations don't match up to what I wrote -don't tell me:) Actually please do! Please write a review and tell me what you're thinking, it would be VERY much appreciated.

Cheers mate!

PS. I'll try and update as soon as I can, but with school and everything, it gets a bithectic. But... (drum roll please)

**Next time: Weiss and Sydney meet! Bahahahah**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey all! Thanks for all the feedback. I've hit the big three oh -I've had thirty reviews! Thanks so much! I'mso happy I'mover the moon! 

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias.

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"So... this is the tuckshop area." Vaughn said, gesturing to the numerous picnic tables, benches and the food for sale.

"Really?" Sydney asked, raising her eyebrows. "I would never have guessed!"

"Yeah, I know. The large sign saying 'tuckshop' doesn't really tell you much, does it?" Vaughn and Sydney shared a smile.

Sydney looked away and took a deep breath. "About the whole thing before and during Japanese, do you –"

Vaughn stopped her mid sentence. "Sorry. I apologise in advance for what's about to happen."

"Huh?" Sydney became alarmed. "What are you talking about?"

"Quick info – it's name is Weiss and it's a he. He's kinda a sad being and I think hemight have been dropped a few times too many when he was a baby. So he's a bit... well –"

"He's your best friend," Sydney finished off with a knowing nod.

"How did you know?" Vaughn asked.

"You said. Before. The sewing." Sydney explained.

"Ah, yep. Gotcha. Well, I'm sorry." Vaughn shrugged his shoulders and then waved to someone behind Sydney.

"Hey man! How's it hanging?" Weiss appeared next to Sydney.

" Sydney, this is Eric. Weiss, Sydney."

"Hi, I'm Eric." Weiss held his hand out to Sydney.

"Like the magician?" Sydney asked, shaking the outstretched hand.

"Yeah, like the magician." Weiss looked over at Vaughn."

"What?" Sydney looked over to Vaughn and was oblivious to Weiss' fanning and sizzling 'hot' actions. "What's up?"

"Nothin'..." Vaughn looked uneasy.

"Uh-huh... Um, do you like Italian?" Weiss asked Sydney. "Cos I know this great lil' restaurant just up the road that we-"

"Uh, I have a boyfr-" Sydney began.

"Yeah," Weiss nodded. "So do I..."

He looked away, disappointedly. "Hey, I need food. I'll be back."

Weiss skipped and dodged his way through the crowd of people to the back of the line waiting to be served.

"You know what's sad – I have never seen him move that fast on the soccer field before." Vaughn rolled his eyes, and Sydney began to laugh.

"Do you really have a boyfriend?" Vaughn looked closely at Sydney.

"Promise you won't tell?" Upon getting a nod from Vaughn, Sydney continued, with a tiny smile forming on her lips. "I don't."

"What!" Vaughn laughed out loud. "Why did you tell him...? Oh I get it! That's cruel! Cruel but kind I suppose."

"Well at least I didn't break his heart. His would have lost that whole attitude thing he's got going there, and I'm kinda guessing that that's one of the thing's he's known for. Plus it's not like he's ever going to find out that I don't have a boyfriend." Sydney pointedly looked at Vaughn.

"What! I promised! And Bristow – I like your thinking.

"MICKEY!"

Sydney and Michael both turned at the screeching voice.

A blur of blond and pompoms hurled itself into Vaughn's arms.

"Hiya Vaugnie!" Whatcha been doing? I've missed you." The owner of the peroxide blond hair and pompoms gave Sydney a long hard look. "Who are you?"

" Sydney. Hi." Sydney turned away and started to walk towards the tuckshop line, allowing Vaughn and his 'friend' some private time

"Uh, yeah. Lauren this is Sydney, a friend of mine. She just moved here." Vaughn stepped away pointedly from Lauren's grasp and reached for Sydney's shoulder, trying to prevent her from walking away.

"Syd?" Vaughn's voice made Sydney stop andturn around.

"Uh, sorry... I just figured you two..." Sydney bit her lip.

"No!" Vaughn said, a touch too loud.

Lauren giggled, moving closer and cuddling into Vaughn. "How cute! Imagine that Vaughnie! SHE thought we were together."

"Lauren's just a friend. Actually you two have a lot in common. Sydney, Lauren's the cheerleading captain. You like sports don't you? Well so does Lauren!" Vaughn yet again moved away from Lauren's clutching hands, trying to hint to her to leave him alone.

"Yeah! That's right. I'm the head cheerleader. The team would be like, stoked to like, meet you. We LOVE new students. It's like, the bomb! Come sit with us, I'm sure the team wouldlike,totally be ok with that. It'd be awesome! Wouldn't it Mickey?" Lauren grinned a picture perfect smile at Vaughn.

Vaughn sent Sydney an encouraging smile. "It'd be ok, wouldn't it Sydney? Give it go and see if you like the girls. Lauren will introduce you to thegroup. You'll have fun!"

Sydney looked hard at Vaughn, trying to determine if he was being serious or just mucking around. It was her worst nightmare coming true – he was deadly serious.

"Mmmhmm." Sydney looked over to a table filled with what she guessed as the cheerleading girls, and mentally rolled her eyes. "Oh god."

A tugging at her elbow, told Sydney that Lauren had unattached herself from Vaughn and was now fastened to her. Sydney felt herself being dragged over to the table full of giggling girls.

"Girls! This is Sydney." The giggling stopped long enough for the girls to give Sydney a once-over, and then was replaced with jeers and scoffs. "She's friends with Vaughn!"

Lauren let go of Sydney and sent a knowing look around the table. She carefully perched herself at the head of the table and crossed her legs. "Be nice..."

"What do you think of her?" Vaughn asked Weiss, glancing over at the cheerleader's table.

"She's hot! Like, really hot! It's a pity she's got a boyfriend andtaken because you saw it." Weiss went back to his eating.

"Nuh-uh. Buddy, what did I see?" Vaughn creased his brow.

"Jeez! You do all those sciences and you didn't even see it! The chemistry! She was like, sending out sparks!" Weiss said, his mouth overflowing with food.

"But I've only known her for what, a couple of hours or something!"

"Minor details man, minor details." Weiss said. "It's a case of love at first sight."

"You believe in that?" Vaughn looked back over at Sydney.

"Damn straight I do! The chemistry was just there dude. You could've set up a power station on the electricity and sparks and stuff." Weiss took another bite of his sandwich.

"Mate – you just ooze class don't you!" Vaughn laughed at the beetroot juice lining Weiss' upper lip. "What do you actually have on that sandwich?"

"Depends on which one you're talking about? The one from the deli, the tuckshop or mum's one?"

"The one you're eating now." Vaughn pointed at the unidentifiable fillings on the sandwich.

"Yeah, there's two sandwiches here – mum's and the tuckshop one. I put them together. And on this part there's beetroot, tomato, mayo, onion, cheese and lettuce." Weiss pointed out each of the layers.

"But what's that black and brown stuff?" Vaughn asked.

"Uh, that's mum being creative. It's leftover tuna casserole and olives."

"Another sandwich creation hey? I hope you brought mints today, 'cause I have English with you next and there is no chance I'm sitting near you with onion AND tuna in your breath. Nuh - uh! Yucko!" Vaughn started to unwrap his lunch.

"Dude! Where is the love? My breath ain't that bad!" Weiss tested his breath. "Whoa! Maybe it is. But the sandwich is almost worth having bad breath over! The olives add that extra bit of mwah, and work with the tuna."

"I'll take your word for it." Vaughn said, looking at his own sandwich in comfort. "Ham and cheese goes down just fine with me."

"That's not cool man. You have no imagination, none what-so-ever. You're like as interesting as my grandparents – and they're dead!"

"And yet, you're still here gracing me with your company Weiss." Vaughn smiled and dug into his lunch.

A flash caught the corner of Vaughn's eye. "Whoa! Is that! What! Wait! Weiss is that Sydney?"

"Yeah, looks like it. She doesn't look very happy, does she?"

Vaughn dropped his lunch and jumped up. "She looks as though she's crying! Oh no! What's happened!"

* * *

A/N: Yay, another update! And oh no! I made Sydney cry! Shame on me:D lol Anyways, tell me what you think about the latest chapter, and I promise, that's right - I promise that there will be another update within the next few days. Woot!

Till next time though... Cheers!

PS Don't cha just love Weiss' sandwich? Yummy yum yum!

**Next time:** **Find out what's wrong with Sydney, and the introduction of two characters... **


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the feedback everyone! You guy's are awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias.

* * *

"Sydney! Wait up!" Vaughn chased after Sydney who was running from the tuckshop area. "Stop! What's wrong!" 

"Oh, don't worry about her." Lauren appeared at Vaughn's side. "She said that she just had something in her eye."

"Lauren, she was crying!" Vaughn said, making to go after her.

"Yeah, clearly. She had something in her eye." Lauren plastered a fake smile on her face. "So, how did you like our cheers on Saturday?"

"Yeah, whatever Lauren. Look, I'm really sorry, I have to go find Sydney and make sure she's okay 'cause that's my job."

"Oh, ok." Lauren looked put off. "Why's that your job?"

"Because I'm her buddy!" Michael scanned the crowded area lookingfor any sign of Sydney.

Lauren looked away, uneasily. "Well, I hope you find her."

"So do I." Vaughn ran back over to his table to grab his books and lunch.

"Weiss, my sandwich – where is it?"

"This one?" Weiss held up the one he'd just started eating. "Whoops, my mistake," he said, a smile on his face.

Michael shook his head and hurried off in the general direction that Sydney had disappeared in.

"Sugar," he thought to himself. "Where do I go... If I was a girl, where would I go... Locker...? Sick bay...? Bathroom...?" Vaughn caught on to the idea, and headed for the nearest set of female toilets.

"Sydney," he called through the doorway. "Sydney!"

"She's not in here." A grade nine girl walked to the doorway. "There's no-one in here."

"Hey! I know you. You were one of the girls on Saturday who was looking through the..." Vaughn stopped mid sentence.

The girl raised her eyebrows, daring Michael to go on.

"Don't worry." Vaughn said, walking off.

"So, where to next," he wondered again.

-----

"Bugger... Bugger, bugger, bugger, BUGGER!" Sydney screamed, offloading her books and overcoat.

"Hey, you look as though something's on your mind. Care to share?"

"Hey." Sydney tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked closely at the person asking. "No, it's alright."

"Mate, I just met you, and I already know something's wrong. Spill. It'll make you feel better."

"Technically we haven't met. We'd have to know each other's names to be properly acquainted." Sydney bent down to fix her books into a pile.

"Ok then. Will." The stranger held out his hand. "Will Tippin."

Sydney smiled at the straightforwardness of the bloke. "Sydney."

"Well hi there Sydney. Are you new here, cause I've never seen you before."

"Yeah, I'm new. It's my first day. And I just met a group of girls who I never want to even... Urgh!" Sydney shuddered.

"Ah, I understand. The B-B's. I take it you've met."

"B-B's? What the!"

"The bitch brigade. That's what people call them."

"Bitch brigade -it's kind of fitting." Sydney said, nodding her head in agreement.

"Due tothem then, I take it your day hasn't gone well?" Will asked, looking concerned.

"Yep."

"And I'm taking it you aren't very happy?" Will asked again.

"Yep."

"And I'm taking it you also like to run?" Will asked, yet again.

"Yep, how'd you guess?" Sydney looked up at Will.

"Well, for one – you're wearing runners. And no-one would wear runners to school if they didn't mean to run. Two – you're wearing shorts, and at this school the girls only wear skirts... Not that I'm complaining or anything. And three, you're up here on the track looking suspiciously like you're about to go for a run. And for some reason, that tells me you like to run!" Will finished off, proudly crossing his arms.

"What are you?" Sydney asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Just a wannabe reporter." Will looked towards the track. "May I join you for a run though?"

"Yeah, it doesn't bother me." Sydney pressed the start/stop button on her watch, and began to jog with Will by her side.

-----

"Weiss! What do I do?" Vaughn frantically ran up to his friend who was at his locker, and starting pulling at his shirt.

"First thing, stop pulling my shirt. Second, what's up?" Weiss pulled his head out of his locker and looked at his mate.

"Sydney! It's like she's disappeared! I can't find her anywhere! I've been to the bathrooms, locker area and sick bay and she's not anywhere!"

"Well, have you asked around?"

"No-one knows who she is! Oh god Weiss! This is exactly what Mrs Tralton said to me!" Vaughn clutched his head in his hands.

"Mrs Tralton told you not to leave Sydney alone with the snob squad? I don't think so... Let's think this through calmly and rashingly now Mike. The warning bell has gone for next lesson, and you are in all of Sydney's classes. So chances are you'll see her soon. And don't start saying she won't be there, 'cause she will be. It's her first day at this school, and she's one of those high achiever people – she'll be there for sure." Weiss awkwardly patted Vaughn's shoulder.

"I really hope so." Michael checked his watch. "We'd better get a move on."

"Yeah yeah, I'm right behind you." Weiss slammed his locker door, and had to start jogging to keep up with Vaughn's brisk pace.

"C'mon Weiss, we need to see if she's there or not. C'mon! Wait a second. Is that...? Is that what's-his-name with Sydney?" Vaughn and Weiss ran the last little bit to the English classroom.

"Will? Is that his name? I know that's Sydney, for sure! My radar is going off!" Weiss reached for his hair, making sure his 'flick' was in place.

"Radar? I don't think I want to ask. But thank god she's here. I should probably go find out what's wrong." Vaughn scurried over to Will and Sydney, who were standing near the doorway.

"Hey Syd. Hey... Will isn't it? Where've you been?" Vaughn looked at the both of them, noticing the beads of sweat on their faces.

"Yeah, I'm Will." Will smiled at Sydney, and nudged her.

Sydney took a deep breath before answering Michael's question. "I uh, went for a run. And I met Will here. And we discovered we were in the same English class so we came here."

"You went for a run?" Vaughn asked, shocked at Sydney's response.

"Yeah..." Sydney looked around, unsure of how to answer. "That's what I like to do – run."

"But why were you crying?" Vaughn said, stressing completely.

"I wasn't crying. I got something in my eye. One of the girls was spraying this perfume stuff and sprayed it directly in my eyes. I wasn't crying." Sydney chuckled. "Those girl's are a joke. There's no chance they could make me cry. None what-so-ever."

Will cleared his throat. "I gave her a briefing on Lauren and her tag-alongs. I told her that Lauren is materialistic and gets everything she wants using her dad's credit card. And her only weakness is Vaughn. Ever since... What grade do you think it was Michael?"

Vaughn rolled his eyes. "God, like before she could even write she was making me love letters. Our parents are old friends, so we've known each other for donkey years. She's a bit full-on."

"So that's why... Oh, I get it now. Seriously though, I'm ok and no offence - I have no aspiration to sit with them again. Sorry to disappoint you." Sydney smiled at both Vaughn and Will. "Anyway, I hear our English teacher is pretty awesome..."

* * *

A/N: See! I didn't really make Sydney cry! I couldn't do that! I hope you're all good and well, and liked the latest chapter. I feel so proud - I updated twice in a matter of a couple of days. Go me! Anyway, tell me all your thoughts about the story if you feel up to it, and I'll be glad to receive them. But until next time, have a good one! 

Cheers!

**Next time: Sydney meets a few more people...**


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for all the reviews everyone! They all mean so much, so thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias :)

* * *

"That's all for today class. You can wait by the door until the bell rings. But no one is allowed to leave before that. Got it?"

"Yes sir," the class chorused.

"Oh, and remember to email that essay to me before Wednesday. That's the last day for draft checking. The real thing's due theweek of exam block, OK?" The teacher looked around at the class, watching them pack up their belongings. "Ahem?"

"Yes sir," the class chorused again.

"And Sydney, I'll give you to Friday to email me so that you can get one done." The teacher said, smiling at her.

"Thank-you sir, but I should be able to get it to you by Wednesday." Sydney shyly said.

""Well, just send one as soon as you can, and I'll be more than happy to read it."

"Thank you." Sydney said, politely smiling at her teacher. She waited for Vaughn to finish zipping his pencil case andgather his things before wandering over to the door with him.

The ringing of the bellruined the class etiquette, and the room broke out of its silent state and seemed to explode with the bustle and chatter.

"So we have chem now. Teacher is Mr D and he is… a bit un-describable." Vaughn said, explaining to Sydney the circumstances of their next class.

"How do you mean un-describable?" Sydney asked Vaughn, confused by his statement.

"Well, he seems all nice and caring on the surface, but that's juston the surface. Underneath he's a serpent ready to strike."

"What?"

"This is really hard to explain... Mr D – he is like, happy all the time and never gets angry. And I mean never. When people don't do their homework – nothing, and when people talk the whole class – nothing, zip, zilch, nada. Then when it comes to exams and assignments, the people that muck around in his class always fail."

"That makes sense though, doesn't it? I mean, they don't listen so they don't understand." Sydney said, thinking that Vaughn's statement was straightforward enough.

"Nuh-uh, that's what he wants everyone to think. Some of the kids he fails enter the National science competitions and come out with high distinctions and top-of-the-state awards. So it's really unlikely that they really 'fail'. Plus, when they do experiments and stuff their prac work seems to always 'mysteriously' go missing or not work out at all."

"Gee, it is kinda suss then isn't it." Sydney shook her head in disbelief. "I hope I keep out of his bad books."

"You got nothing to worry 'bout Sydney. You'll be his pride and joy." Michael smiled at her and gave her a nudge.

She looked at him and then quickly looked away. "What do you mean by that?"

"No! I don't mean it in a bad way, it's just that you're like, smart and all that and he'll like that." Vaughn reassured her.

"I'm not smart." Sydney said, irritated by the smile playing on Vaughn's face. "I'm not!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. Forget I mentioned anything."

"That's a bit hard…" Sydney worriedly chewed on her lip.

"Uh-oh, approaching suspect at 3 o'clock and headed in your direction."

"My direction? Nuh-uh, more like yours." Sydney watched as Lauren and her clones approached.

"Mickey, hi!" Lauren smiled broadly at him.

"Hey Lauren. You remember my buddy?" Vaughn asked, gesturing to Sydney.

"Yeah, course! Adelaide isn't it?" Lauren said, nodding her head at Vaughn.

"Close enough– right country, wrong state that's all. But it'll do." Sydney chuckled.

"Oh..." Lauren nodded her head, not following Sydney at all. "Sorry about the thing at lunch today. Sara didn't really mean to spray you in the eye. I'm sorry for that."

"Nah, it's ok." Sydney smiled and caught Vaughn's eye. "It's no biggie."

"That's good then." Lauren said, turning her attention to Vaughn. "So are you training this arvo Mickey?"

"Yeah, why?" He asked.

"Oh, I was just going to say that if you weren't you could come and watch our cheerleading session. I mean, you left early on Saturday so you didn't get to hear our new cheer. And I'm sure you would like it. It's awesome!" Lauren excitedly said.

"I'm sorry Lauren, I can't miss training. But thanks for the invitation." Vaughn said, pretending to look apologetic.

"I suppose you'll just have to wait for Saturday then," Lauren looked at him haughtily before turning her attention back to Sydney. "You're most welcome to come if you like. It's only a training so the girls won't be fully professional, but you can see if you like it or if you are interested in joining."

"Thanks Lauren, but I can't this afternoon. That's really nice of you to invite me though," Sydney said, smiling graciously at her.

"Anytime. Well then, later!"

And with a flick of her hair Lauren disappeared leaving Sydney and Vaughn to regroup after her appearance.

"Gosh…" Vaughn shook his head. "That was a blur."

Sydney let out a giggle. "Talk about it. Do you think she meant to call me Adelaide?"

"No offence on her part, but she's notexactly smart enough to think that up by herself, so I think it was an honest mistake. Lauren's a bit paranoid when it comes to names because people have called her Laura one too many times. I'm not sure whether she understood that whole – right country, wrong state thing." Vaughn chuckled at his last statement.

"I'll have to remember that though. I'll have to make sure that I never call her Laura." Sydney said, a frown forming on her face.

"You'll be ok. It's only really tricky when you know someone with the name Laura and then someone with the name Lauren, and then it's like, whoa!"

"My mum's name was Laura…" Sydney said, staring off into space. She shook her head and then composed herself before adding. "Do you think Lauren was looking for you?"

"Chances are, yes. You see, this is the science block. The science block isn't really a place that Lauren knows too well." Vaughn smiled at Sydney.

"Are you suggesting that the shopping centre is more her province?" Syd asked.

Vaughn nodded. "But you didn't hear it from me."

"Rightio." Sydney said, brushing a strand of hair back into place. "Is Lauren always that nice?"

Vaughn paused for a moment before answering. "She's nice, really she is. She does all this charity fundraising and all that so she means well."

"But to other people – like to the one's who go to school with her – is she nice to them? Does she treat say, the science or computer club alright?"

"Ahhh, in short – no. But you could then turn it around and say that those clubs don't treat her ok. There's a little bit of stereotyping done on both sides, so…" Vaughn shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok…Oh my gosh!" Sydney caught sight of the time on her watch. "The second bell is going to ring any second. I don't want to be late for Mr D's class."

"That you don't want to be. We better hurry!"

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"How was it Vaughn?" Weiss asked his mate whilst pulling on his shin pads and socks later that day at soccer training.

"What?" Vaughn looked up from tying his bootlaces.

"Duh, the first day with the love-of-my-life." Weiss said, a dreamy look on his face.

"The love-of-your-life?" Vaughn asked, staring in disbelief at Weiss. "What are you talking about?"

"Only what I told you at lunch. You saw the sparks between us, you know that Sydney and I are like, meant for each other. We're perfect." Weiss' eyes clouded over.

"Is that what you meant!" Vaughn exclaimed. "You were speaking all cryptic and I thought-" He stopped himself before he said too much.

"You thought what?" Weiss asked, coming out of his daze.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Are you ready yet?"

"Not quite. I'm a man in love; my mind is elsewhere."

"Well come back down to earth mate, 'cause Coach sure won't be impressed if you use that as your late excuse." Vaughn looked pointedly at his friend. "However, that excuse probably beats the other ones that you've used so far this season."

"Hey!" Weiss exclaimed. "What do you mean by that?"

Vaughn scoffed at his friend and then gave an example of one of Weiss' excuses. "Sorry Coach for being late, but my pet ate my sock and I had to find another one."

"Well I did!" Weiss insisted.

"Weiss! You don't have a dog."

"So?" Weiss asked, confused by Vaughn's question. "What's that got to do with my excuse?"

"I think Coach thought that your 'dog' ate your sock."

"But a dog didn't eat my sock. My fish did." Weiss said indignantly.

"I know that. But not many people would believe that a fish would eat a sock. So if you had of told Coach the whole truth, I'm sure your excuse wouldn't have held up."

"Mmm..." Weiss said thoughtfully. "I think you're right. I know my fish are like carnivorous and all that, but what do they have to do with now?"

"Seriously? Weiss! Don't worry your 'pretty' little head. We're going to be late and Coach is going to kill us. C'mon." Vaughn said, grabbing his gear bag and walking to the locker room door.

"Wait for me!" Weiss said, grabbing his bags and hopping after Vaughn with only one boot on and the other in his hand.

"Hey, put your other boot on before you fall ov-… Too late." Michael shook his head and held out his arm to help his mate up.

* * *

A/N: Hey all. I'm really sorry about the long time to review thing. I know it's not much of an excuse (similar to Weiss lol) but my computer blew up. Literally. The summer storms here in AUS are pretty horrendous...

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter, and feel free to send me your thoughts.

Cheers, Kirs-t


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far; you are all champions!**

**dandan: **The storms? They're in QLD. Whoa, it was a bad summer this year for storms. Anyway, thanks for the review mate!

**Cipher Text: **You're from Adelaide? That's awesome! I've never been there myself, but it's in the same state that McLeod's is filmed, so that's cool! Cheers for reviewing though!

**vaughnloveralwaysandforever:** Thank you for reviewing, it's very much appreciated!

**pigeonofdoom: **I know! It was a long time-no posting thing wasn't it! lol Thank you!

**28DoomdOOM28: **Believe it or not, not only my computer blew up, but my hair straightener as well! It was the worst! Anyway, thanks so much for your reviews!

**Summary:** Sydney is a new student at her school and coincidentally is paired up with Michael Vaughn who takes on the role of her buddy. If being a new student isn't hard enough, Sydney struggles with school stereotypes, schoolwork and fitting in.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Alias…

* * *

_Chapter 7_

At the dinner table that night, Sydney sat; head rested on her arm, playing with the food on her plate.

"So how was your first day at school Sydney?"

"Um…" She looked up at her dad, and lifted her head off her arm, dropping it from the table in the process. "It was ok. I met my buddy person, and oh! That reminds me, there's some more sheets that need to get signed. Should I get them now?"

"Nah, wait till after dinner. Do you like it there?" her dad asked her, dropping his knife and fork to the table.

"I'll get to like it," Sydney said answering him truthfully.

"Is it that bad, hey?"

"No. It's alright I suppose. I'm hoping it gets better though." She placed her fork back down onto her plate and picked up her plate to take it over.

"I'll do that Sydney, just leave it," her dad said, stopping her in place.

"Thanks dad." Sydney stood up and walked to her father placing a kiss on the top of his head before walking up to her room. "Call me if you need me at all."

"Rightio."

- - - - - - -

"So will you be alright?" Michael Vaughn asked her the next day at school. "At the moment, we're in a C Block classroom and all you have to do is walk down those stairs and follow the pathway to the hall. Then there's a set of stairs leading under the hall and that's the row of H block classrooms."

"She'll be fine Vaughn, stop stressing mate!" Weiss said, brushing off his friend's concern for Sydney. He stopped for a moment and then turned back to Sydney. "You will be ok, won't you?"

"I think I will. Just wondering though, does H block have anything to do with it being under the hall? I mean, A block is the art block, and L block is the languages, so is H block supposed to be hall block?"

"I'll leave that one for you, Mike. She's all yours. I'm going to go now, and start work." Weiss saluted Sydney and wandered off, slowly disappearing into the crowed hallway.

"Doesn't he have a spare?" Sydney asked, confused with what Weiss had said.

"Yeah, but he leaves all his homework to them."

"And he actually does work?"

"No. He always seems to end up dedicating his spares to entertaining the other people in the class. Even the teacher is amused at what he gets up to. Some days he's a stand-up comedian, and other days he reads something or just tells stories. At the moment though, he seems determined to prove to everyone that he's a magic genius – so he's pretty keen on improving his tricks."

"Ah, the Houdini blood's coming through, hey?"

"Yeah. Except I don't think he has any. My sister can perform the tricks he does better than him. And that's saying something!"

"Poor Weiss, or should I say Houdini?"

"Oh! Call him Houdini please! He'd love it!"

"Rightio. But back to the classrooms… The whole letter before the block bit, what does that mean?"

"I never actually thought about theletter thing, but yeah I suppose they could mean the subject. Good way to remember it I suppose. It's clever! The H block could also stand for Home-ec block as well as Hall block too."

Sydney laughed. "Good point."

Vaughn smiled at her. "So I'll see you in Biol afterwards?"

"Yeah, in B Block."

Vaughn laughed out loud. "That's right. I'll see you there? You'll be ok finding it and all that?"

"For sure, see you then."

_five minutes later_

She rechecked the timetable on her diary and stamped her foot in frustration.

"It says H1 and I'm at H1, so where are the rest of them?" She stuffed the book back under the pile in her arms and tried calming herself.

She peered to either end of the hallway and was greeted with stark silence, and a wave of panic flooded her – her calming method failed.

"Oh God, oh God!" She glanced at her watch and gathered her books closer to her chest. She backed up to the wall and slid down, allowing herself to rid of the strain caused by the stress of the week so far. Her eyes were still a little bit tender from the 'the incident' yesterday, the muscles in her legs were a touch tight from the rushed warm down from her run this morning, and her brain was flooded with thoughts, rules and people's names that she had met yesterday and this morning.

She couldn't help but feel relieved though. According to the rhyme, the second day was never as bad as the first.

"First the worst, second the best…" Sydney recited. "And here I was, thinking that today was going to go well."

She couldn't help but marvel at the fact that it was the first lesson of the day and she'd already gotten lost. Sydney hung her head ashamedly.

A hurried set of footsteps at the end of the hallway tore her from her thoughts and brought her back to the 'here and now'. She turned her head, and caught the owner of the footstep's eye.

"Ok, why are you in the middle of the hallway?" The stranger asked.

"Waiting…" she replied.

"For…?"

"My class. They aren't here." She said, indicating to the empty room.

"You don't say. Are you in 9A home-ec?"

"Yeah, I'm meant to be but not at the moment."

The stranger looked at her suspiciously for a moment and then continued to talk. "You're meant to come with me."

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I was sent her to take you back to class."

"But I'm meant to be here, it says so on my diary!" She pulled the book back out from the stack and pointed to the box indicating the room. "See?"

"Yeah, I got that on mine too. But some things change and our classroom is one of those things."

"Oh, so where am I meant to be?" She asked, becoming flustered.

"That's what I'm meant to do – show you where to go. So c'mon, let's go. I don't need to miss anymore home-ec than I have to."

"Alright, I'm coming." She stood up, and followed hesitantly after the figure.

"So, you're new…"

She looked up. It was more of a statement rather than a question. "You could say that, I suppose," she said, nodding her head.

"Interesting…" The stranger looked away, avoiding her eyes. "So, who's your buddy?"

"My buddy?"

"Yeah, your buddy… You know, the person who's in all your classes and shows you round?"

"Oh, my buddy. Yeah, that's Michael."

"Michael...?"

"Michael Vaughn."

"Michael Vaughn? As in the Michael Vaughn?"

"There's more than one Michael Vaughn?" Sydney asked, confusedly. "What?"

"Vaughn is like, a God!"

"Ok…" Sydney chuckled, shaking her head at this statement.

"No, seriously! People like, worship him."

"Why?"

"Ah…… The……" The stranger seemed lost for words.

Sydney just stared.

"Have you seen him? He's like perfect! He's smart, handsome, sporty, nice and the most popular guy in school."

"So in other words, you worship him?" Sydney smiled, asking the stranger.

The stranger nodded their head. "Among others."

"I see." Sydney giggled.

"But," the stranger paused for a moment then continued. "We do lunch."

"Sorry?"

"Michael Vaughn and I. We go way back – we do lunch."

"Right… And not to be rude or anything, but who are you?"

The stranger extended his hand. "Marshall Flinkman, at your service."

"Hi." Sydney smiled. "Marshall, where is our class?"

"Oh, in the library. On Monday's we're always in the library, and then every other day we are in the classroom."

"Ok, I gotcha." Sydney nodded. "So I should remember the whole library thing?"

"Well, yeah. Our teacher won't send someone to pick you up each lesson, so you probably should remember." Marshall said, intently raising his eyebrows at Sydney.

The two turned a corner and were greeted with the sight of the ramp leading to the library.

"The school covers all areas of the school you see? I mean, by putting a ramp here everyone can still go to the library even if they're in a wheelchair and that. So you'd think in theory, the library would be a very popular place because it covers everyone, except it's not..." Marshall said, becoming confused at his own statement.

"Yes, yep.." Sydney said, trying her hardest not to laugh at the guy. "I like libraries."

Marshall looked at Sydney with astonishment and then ran forward and held the door open for her.

"Thank-you," Sydney said, ducking through the doorway. She waited on the other side for Marshall to gently pull the door close and allowed herself be led to the room where the classroom was.

The two entered the room, and the chaos of the class was immediately halted with the entrance of the two people. Upon seeing that it was only someone with Marshall, the class returned toits previous state.

"Class. Class!" The teacher clapped her hands in an attempt to settle the class. "This is our new student Sydney."

Sydney smiled a small smile at the class and looked for an empty seat in the class.

"She's just moved here and will be joining our class for the rest of the year. Please make her feel welcome." The teacher smiled at the class before turning to Sydney. "There's a spare seat down the back, so why don't you head down there, ok Sydney? Here's your sheet, they're just filling them out at the moment."

Sydney nodded her head and wandered to the back corner, avoiding the prying eyes that were staring.

"Hey…" Sydney said hesitantly, sitting herself in the corner seat.

"Hi. Who are you?"

"Um… Sydney?" Sydney said, confused at the girl's question. 'Why is this girl playing dumb? She jolly well knows who I am! She was there at lunch yesterday with Lauren,' she thought to herself.

"Sydney?" the girl repeated. "As in NSW capital?"

"Yeah," Sydney said, surprised at the girl's reaction. "Didn't we meet yesterday?"

"Did we?"

"Yeah, I thought we did - at lunch. Lauren introduced us."

"As in Lauren Reed!" The girl slammed her hands onto the desk and stared at Sydney. "Girl, you got the wrong person!"

"I do?"

The girl laughed and began to explain herself. "You probably met my sister. Despite the two-year age gap, my sister and I could pass for identical twins. Even our mum gets us confused. The only way to tell us apart is… Actually I don't think there really is a way to tell us apart other than talking to us. Allison, my sister is a B-B through and through, and I'm just you know, me, Francie."

"Thanks, that helps. Kinda..."

"In other words, not really?"

"Well, I know your name now – Francie."

"Oh, sorry about that. I always forget to say that! But before I forget this, are you friends with Lauren?" the girl asked her again.

"I don't really know her, my buddy does."

The girl paused for a moment and looked harder at Sydney. "Your buddy is Michael Vaughn."

"Yeah…" Sydney said, unsure of what to say.

"Oh no! There's nothing wrong with that!" The girl said, reassuring Sydney from her unsureness. "He's a good guy."

"So I've heard," Sydney said, looking over at Marshall working hard at his work.

"Well, he's a top bloke. It's Lauren that I'm worried about. Are you friends with her?"

Sydney bit her lip, and let out a breath before answering the question. "I think my buddy may want me to be friend's with her, if that helps."

"Oh! So is that why you had lunch yesterday with her and my sister? It wasn't as though you walked up to them under your own accord?"

"No! Michael introduced us."

"That's a good thing, you know. And I'm kind of glad too because let's face it - my sister and her group are bimbo's. It's the truth. And you don't seem a bit like them, so trust me, it's a good thing."

"I'll take your word for it then…" Sydney said, looking down at her sheet and writing her name at the top.

"Just wait a second, I ran into Michael Vaughn at lunch yesterday in the girls bathroom because he was looking for someone, a Sydney, and that's you."

Sydney nodded, following whatthe girl was saying.

"What happened at lunch yesterday for Michael Vaughn to run to the girls bathroom?"

"Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"Girl, we're in home-ec; the long version of course! What else are we going to do?"

"Alright, so yesterday at lunch, Lauren invited me to sit with her and so there I was, sitting with her group and I was sprayed in the eye by someone who I thought was you but now turns out to be your sister. And then I…"

- - - - - - -

"Weiss! I hope she got to home-ec ok," Michael said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"I'm sure she did," Eric replied absentmindedly, shuffling a pack of cards. "Don't fret."

"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one responsible for her if something goes wrong!"

"Meh, she's a smart one Mickey, she'll be fine. Wanna see my newest trick?" Weiss stood in his place, causing the classroom to hush and watch him.

"Not really, but do I have much choice?" Vaughn said, lowering his head onto the desk.

"Ta dah!" Weiss said triumphantly, causing the room to erupt with applause and laughter. "How good was that?"

"Nice work mate… Give me the cards for a sec though," Michael said, getting an idea.

"You wanna try your hand at magic, hey?" Weiss sat down and reluctantly handed over the pack of cards.

"No, I was going to teach you a new game to tell you the truth." Vaughn smiled at him.

"Oh cool! Show us!" Weiss said, bouncing in his seat.

"Have you heard of fifty-two-pick-up?" Vaughn asked, shuffling the cards professionally.

"No, is it a fun game?"

"Oh yeah, it's great!" Vaughn took the cards into his left hand and held them up. "You ready?"

"Yeah! Let's start!" Weiss said, waiting for Vaughn to deal.

"Ok!" Flicking the cards one-by-one, Vaughn let the cards fly around the room. "Fifty-two-pick-up!"

"Michael!" Weiss said, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning at Vaughn. "That wasn't very nice. You better pick those up."

"No chance. You wanted to play, you pick 'em up." Vaughn grinned at his mate and then looked back down at his work and thought the better of it. "Ok, I'll help, there's nothing better to do."

- - - - - - -

"Wow! He's a good guy, isn't he?" Francie said, when Sydney finished her story.

"Mm, he's nice," Sydney said, avoiding Francie's eyes.

"And cute. You think he's cute, don't you?" Francie knowingly asked.

"Um…" Sydney looked around the room.

Noticing Sydney's uncomfortableness, Francie dropped the question. "It's ok if you do, everyone else thinks so to. And I promise I won't tell him. Quick question though, why's he your buddy if you're only in grade nine?"

Sydney drew a deep breath and looked back at Francie. "It's really confusing, but in short I'm in all of his classes except his spares. I have this - home-ec - instead."

"That makes a lot of sense," Francie said, chuckling at Sydney's sentence. "But why our grade for home-ec? It's so easy! All we do is sit and talk."

"Yeah, so I've heard. My dad just felt I should do it, that's all." Sydney shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright then. So I'm taking it that you're a genius?" Francie asked.

"Not quite."

"Not quite? But you've got a sky-high IQ or something then?"

Sydney bit her lip. "IQ tests aren't really accurate…"

"I'm just going to assume you're a genius. Can I have your autograph please then?" Francie asked, tearing a sheet of paper from her book.

"Why?" Sydney asked in disbelief.

"Because you'll probably become a rich and famous scientist or something sometime soon and I want proof that I knew you, and that you were in home-ec with me."

"Ah, you're probably better off asking for Lauren's autograph or Michael Vaughn's. I believe they're both pretty popular, so I'm sure they'll be strutting their stuff sometime soon. They're the next big things," Sydney said, pushing the offered pen and paper away.

"Oh…" Francie looked heartbroken.

"I don't want to become famous either, so there's no need."

"You don't want to be famous? But everyone does!" Francie exclaimed, mortified at the response.

"Nuh-uh, not me. People who are rich and famous never seem to be happy."

"Well, what do you want to do then?" Francie asked.

"English."

Francie smiled, "But we already do English."

"Teaching. English teaching," Sydney said, further explaining herself.

"Yeah, I gotcha, but why do you want to do that?"

"Because… I dunno actually, I just do. I suppose a little bit is due to the fact that my mum used to teach, and that I like the subject English and helping people. So if you add the two together, you get English teaching."

Francie shook her head in amazement. "You're one strange person. Next thing you're going to tell me is you understand stuff like Shakespeare, aren't you? Actually don't answer that, you'll make me feel bad."

"People exaggerate that kind of stuff! It's not that hard – I mean it's only English. In another three or four hundred years people won't be able to understand us, you know? People will say then 'Oh it's too hard!' But really, it isn't – you just have to set your mind to it." Sydney shrugged her shoulders.

"Says the genius…" Francie said, nudging her.

"Stop it!"

"But seriously, you aren't the average person are you? I mean, you're a genius but you just wanna teach and help people; you don't wanna become rich and famous because you just want to be happy and you understand Shakespeare. That's not normal!"

"But what do you call normal?" Sydney asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Oh no," Francie playfully smacked herself in the head. "Not another one of these 'Everyone is unique' conversations. They're just contradictory. I mean they teach us 'you're unique – just like everyone else' but that just means everyone's the same.

"People do as people please, I suppose." Sydney stated reasonably.

"Just a quick question though, and it's a bit off the topic…"

"Sure, fire away."

Francie pointed down at the sheet in front of her and pointed to a question. "What's a bobbin?"

* * *

A/N: Whoa, that was a long one. I hope it was alright though... So school starts again tomorrow for me, so I thought I might update because I'm not too sure when I'll get to next. 

Anyway, if you have any thoughts, queries or anything just in general you would like to share with me, feel free! I'm more than happy to hear them.

Thanks though, and have fun till next time!

**_Next chapter: A deep dark discussion…_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes! I've updated!'**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Alias...

* * *

"Back again?"

"Huh?" Sydney looked up from tying her shoelaces. "Oh, hi Will, what's doing?"

"Not much, I was just commenting on how you're back here again," Will said gesturing to the oval. "Hey, have you thought about joining the track team?"

"No, not really." Sydney looked towards the stands and stared at the track and field team's banner being displayed proudly.

Following her gaze Will saw what she was looking at.

"Say that again?" Will asked her again.

Before speaking Sydney drew a deep breath and conveniently reached for her right ankle to stretch her hamstring as to avoid Will's eyes. "I did think about the team, but I'm not sure I'd be a very great addition."

"What are you talking about?" Will gasped, shocked by her response. "What do you mean you wouldn't be a good addition?"

"It's just that-" Sydney began.

"This isn't about how good you are is it?" Will asked, interrupting her. "Because you'd be awesome. I mean yesterday you were running rings around me. And I represent my age group at the interschool comp! You'd be fine!"

"It's not that…" Sydney said, swapping to her left hamstring.

"What's the matter then?"

"It's…"

Will gestured for her to continue. "It's…" he prompted.

"It's nothing," Sydney said, forcing a smile. "I'll think about it, ok?"

"You do that, girl."

"Mmm-hmm. Are you coming for a run today?" She asked.

"No, not today."

"And the reason would be…"

"Nothing of real importance," Will said catching sight of a smile. "Hey! What's that smile for? Stop it!"

"What smile? I don't know what you're talking about… But nothing of real importance, hey? Am I thinking – no! It can't be!" Sydney took a step back and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm shocked, Will. Real shocked."

"Stop it," Will said, reaching to give her a playful push but grimaced in the process.

"Ah, you gave yourself away!" Sydney's smile grew wider. "Tut-tut!"

"That's so out of line, Sydney. And it's not my fault. It's all because of you. If I had of warmed-down properly yesterday, I wouldn't be this sore."

"Excuses, excuses Will. Blame the warm-down but you know deep-down, Will…" Sydney said, laughing.

"It was the fact that I did no warm down yesterday, seriously," he insisted. "Hey, but you didn't do one either! Aren't you sore?"

"That, Mr. I-run-for-my-age-group-at-the-interschool-comp is for me to know, and you _not_ to find out," she said, jumping on the spot as if to prove her point.

"You're one tough chick Sydney," Will said, shaking his head. "Are you going to be ok running by yourself now?"

"It's called an I-pod, Will," she said, holding one up in her hand. "It's a runner's best friend.

"Alright then, have fun. See you later." Will said with a chuckle, waving at the back of her running form.

"Bye!" Sydney yelled over her shoulder.

* * *

"Hey Will. What's the matter, mate?" Michael asked, seeing Will appear by his side.

"Hey Michael. Ah, it's probably nothing, but I'm just worried about Sydney, that's all."

Michael looked up suddenly, not expecting to hear what he just did. "Sydney? What's happened?"

"Nothing, nothing…" Will said, reassuring Vaughn. "Do you know where she is?"

"No, she just said that she had to go somewhere and she'd see me after lunch," Vaughn said with a shrug. "I'm assuming it's a meeting of some sort…"

Will sighed and grabbed a hold of Vaughn's shirt. "Come with me," he said. "There's something you have to see."

* * *

"Is that? No it can't be… Can it?" Vaughn squinted into the distance at the figure running around the tartan.

"It is, and she's good." Will said knowingly.

"But she never said anything…" Vaughn said, still following the figure.

"I know. She was here yesterday at lunch time as well, and I came up here today to see if she came back and she did. I asked her to join the track team but she seemed hesitant about it, and I was just wondering whether you knew why that would be so."

Shaking his head, Michael tore his eyes from the track and looked at Will. "No, I have no idea."

"Rightio then. Well then, maybe you can encourage her to join the team? I ran with her yesterday and she's a machine – she just kept going. I'm so sore as a result of it today, and look at her run!"

"She sure can go. Alright, I'll do that mate. Thanks for coming to me. I'm not sure whether I would have found out otherwise – that girl sure is full of surprises!"

"For sure. And that's ok," Will said, looking back out to Sydney who was approaching their side of the oval. "Hey, we probably should go before she sees us."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm kinda getting the feeling that she doesn't really want people to know something's about her."

"But why? I don't know…" Will shook his head and began to follow Michael back to the school.

* * *

"So the second day at school, how was it?" Mr Bristow asked Sydney that night at the dinner table.

Looking up from her dinner, Sydney lowered her knife and fork. "Yeah, it was ok."

"Better than yesterday?"

"Well it didn't start off very well." Seeing her dad's concerned look, Sydney chuckled and began to fill her father in on the day's events. "Well, my first class of the day, home economics, was meant to be in this classroom and I went there and no-one was there. Then this guy Marshall came and…"

* * *

"Good training session team," the soccer team coach announced. "Great work tonight! For all your hard work, I'll be so kind and give you all tomorrow morning off. Off you go, hit the showers."

"Phew," Weiss said, tugging on the hem of his goalie jersey. "What a session!"

"It was alright…" Michael nodded at his coach and joined Weiss instep to the lockers.

"You ok, broz? Is something the matter?" Weiss stopped and peered into Vaughn's face.

"You right there mate?" Pushing Weiss' face away, Michael kept on walking.

"Oi, that's no way to treat ya mate!"

"What mate? I don't see no mate?" Michael said, slyly looking at Eric through the corner of his eyes.

"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that…" Weiss threw a dirty look in reply. "What's bothering you mate?"

"Nothin'…"

"Ok, that was rather unconvincing. Tell me another one. Spill!"

Running a hand through his hair, Michael thought for a moment. "I'm going to have a shower. If you're still here when I come out, I'll fill you in. If you aren't, well, tough."

"Oh, it's an ultimatum!" Weiss said, becoming excited. "I like! And you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be here!"

* * *

"And you think that's an ok day?"

Sydney stared at her father. "Yeah, it was fine!"

Rolling his eyes, Jack Bristow calmly stood and walked to the bench. "You call getting lost, then isolating yourself to go for a run ok? I don't think you're very happy, Sydney."

"I am happy, dad. It might not seem like it, but I am! Sure I may have gotten lost today but by getting lost, I met some really nice people - people that I can see myself becoming friends with."

"Sydney, you're a nice girl – you can make friends anywhere." Jack picked up a folder and brought it over to the spot where Sydney was sitting.

"Dad, what's this leading to?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well, I don't think it's really fair on you to keep moving around following me from job to job." Jack opened the folder and placed a brochure on the table in front of Sydney. "What do you think?"

Seeing the front cover, Sydney stood abruptly in her place and leapt back from her father. "You have got to be kidding me!"

* * *

A/N: Hiya all. Thanks for all the positive feedback from the previous chapter. I love reading all your responses! Thanks kindly.

**Rachelle – Your Almighty Vampire: **Thanks for the reviews mate lol

**specialfrog:** I updated! Thanks for reviewing! It's very much appreciated!

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforever: **Cheers!

**Meadow:** I'm glad I made you laugh mate, thanks for reviewing!

**tootsie210:** Is it really cute! Why thank-you lol. Cheers mate!

**pigeonofdoom: **Thanks so much for your review! It made me laugh :D

**dandan: **Yeah, it was pretty devastating – losing both a straightener and a computer. And have you been to the McLeod's set? That's awesome! I'm glad you liked the last chapter (and the game 52 pick-up). I found out how to play that game the hard way… Thanks for reviewing mate, you're a champ

**smilez4eva:** I did, I did. I tried to update and I did! Thanks for your review!

_**Next time: What's made Sydney so upset? And what's wrong with Vaughn?**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Alias

**A/N**:A special mention and thanks must go to specialfrog, who helped me get a wriggle on with this chapter. Cheers mate :D

* * *

Previously on **_Mickey_**

"_Sydney, you're a nice girl – you can make friends anywhere." Jack picked up a folder and brought it over to the spot where Sydney was sitting._

"_Dad, what's this leading to?" She asked suspiciously._

"_Well, I don't think it's really fair on you to keep moving around following me from job to job." Jack opened the folder and placed a brochure on the table in front of Sydney. "What do you think?"_

_Seeing the front cover, Sydney stood abruptly in her place and leapt back from her father. "You have got to be kidding me!"_

* * *

"What is this?" Sydney asked, sliding the brochure back towards Jack. "Boarding school?" 

"Sydney, I think it's the best thing that could happen to you. I mean you won't have to move from one place to another anymore, you could just stay kaput in one place. Look at this Sydney," Jack said, flicking through the brochure. "It's lovely."

"Do you really hate me that much?" Sydney asked, her eyes avoiding the brochure and intently watching her dad. "Seriously, do you hate me that much that you want to send me off to some place where you will only get to see me three or four weeks a year?"

"No! No Sydney! It's not like that!"

"Well, it certainly seems like that to me."

"That's not true Sydney, and you know it. This place, it's a prestigious day and boarding school. So when I'm home, you can go to the day school and when I'm away you could board in-"

"Don't you get it dad?" Sydney said, raising her voice. "Aren't you understanding me here? Because I'm trying to tell you that I don't want to go!"

"Sydney…"

"I don't want to go. Full stop. The school I'm going to at the moment is as prestigious as I want to go, ok? The people there are nice, I understand the teachers and I've made some friends already. I've only had a few days at the place and I have achieved more than what some of seniors have done. Don't you see that I'm happy?"

"I don't think you are Sydney. Really, I don't. At this school you'll have the time of your life and make life-long friends, unlike the place you're going to now. If you can list thirty reasons why you want to stay there to me, you can stay there. But my mind's made up and when you do realise that I'm looking out for you here, you'll thank me for making you do this."

Sydney stepped back from her father, her hands clenched in anger. "That's not fair dad. I don't have any choice in the matter do I? That's so crap! How could you?"

"Sydney, I've already told-"

"Well stop telling me! I don't want to go to some bitchy so-called 'prestigious' boarding school! So just leave it."

"Sydney! Don't ever talk to me like-"

"Whatever!" Turning her back on her dad, Sydney turned and ran out the door. Unsure what to do or where to go, she kept running in the general direction of the school, turning the occasional corner and stopping only to cross the street.

* * *

"Michael… Little Mikey. Mickey, come on. Stop procrastinating… Vaughn! Time to come out! NOW! You haven't fallen down the plughole have you Mike? Mikey?" 

"Oi, who you looking for?"

Weiss looked up at the partially open shower door. "Huh?"

"I said, who you looking for?"

"Not you…"Weiss said, trying to peek around the door. "Have you always been in _that_ shower?"

"Yeah."

"Okay… It's just that I swear that my mate was in there and now he isn't so-"

"Ah, I understand now." The stranger smiled through the small gap in the door.

"You understand what?"

"What the dude told me?"

"What dude?"

"The dude before. He said he had to get away, and so he climbed through that window over there," the guy said, indicating to the ventilation windows. "Seemed as though it was really urgent, you know? And now I see why…"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked, annoyed not only at what the guy was saying but also at what Vaughn had done.

"Understand it however you want." The stranger smirked at Weiss one last time and then shut the shower door with a bang.

"Bastard…" Weiss said under his breath.

"I heard that!"

"Care factor – zero!" Weiss grabbed his gear bag and stalked out of the bathroom.

* * *

Vaughn pulled up short of the traffic light crossing, and looked back at the lights of the soccer field in the distance. Struggling to catch his breath, the constant niggling of laughter threatened to overcome him. But the thought of Weiss catching up to him whilst he was doubled over would not be a very smart thing to do. It was just friend's intuition, but Vaughn had a tiny inkling that Weiss wouldn't be very happy with him. 

His breathing returned to normal, Vaughn walked to traffic light pole and pressed the crossing button. He watched and waited as car after car zipped by in front of him, most of them filled with business people returning home. A rumble in his tummy made Vaughn figure that the lack of joggers on the paths was probably due to the time – it was dinnertime. Finally though, the pedestrian man light changed from red to green, making the traffic rush stop and allow for him to cross and head home to dinner.

* * *

"How could he do that," Sydney said, each word emphasised by a running foot hitting the ground, "how could he?" 

A sharp twitch in her lower leg told her it was time to stop. Wiping the line of sweat that had developed along her brow, Sydney limped to a phone box up ahead and sat down with her back leaning against it. Cars passed by in front of her, dinner aromas drifted out and a chorus of blaring televisions could be heard from the line of houses surrounding her. "Oi!"

A voice disturbed her, and caused her to turn around to find where it was coming from.

"Sydney?"

A figure walked towards her, their features silhouetted from the street light behind them.

"It's me, Michael."

"Michael?" Sydney said, racking her brains to remember a Michael.

"Yeah, Michael Vaughn," the figure said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Oh, hey."

"You ok?" he asked, standing before her. "What are you doing out at this time?"

"Um, not much. Just sitting here," Sydney told him, giving him a small forced smile.

"Are you good? Here, I'll help you up," he said, offering a hand. "Do you live around here? 'Cos I'll walk you home."

"Nah, it's right. I'm just going to stay here for a moment or two."

"You're not ok, are you?" Vaughn crouched down, and looked hard at her face.

"I'm o-"

"Give me your phone for a sec," he said, holding out his hand. "Please?" he added, as an afterthought.

Sydney handed it over to him, and watched as his fingers flew over the keypad. Flipping it close, he handed it back to her and smiled broadly.

"What did you do?" Sydney asked him.

"Whenever you're at your absolute lowest, at your most depressed, just remember that you can always… You've got my number. Well, now you do," Vaughn said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Thank-you," Sydney said, genuinely smiling. "That's really sweet."

"You're welcome, and it's my pleasure." Vaughn stood and walked to Sydney's side, sliding down the side of the phone box to sit down next to her. "You wanna tell me what's wrong"

"Uh, is that your phone?" Sydney asked, hearing a faint ringing sound.

"Oh! Yeah, thanks for that!"

Reaching into his sports bag, Vaughn pulled out his ringing mobile and looked at the ringing number. Seeing the unknown caller ID, he knew that it could be only one person.

"Really sorry , but I should answer this…" He told Sydney with a smile.

"Bonjour?" he said, assuming his French accent.

"Vaughn… How could you do that to me! Getting out through the ventilation windows! Uh! How did you even fit through there!"

"Je suis désolé. Je ne parle pas l'anglais. (I'm sorry. I don't speak english.)

C'mon Vaughn. Time to drop the act. Seriously mate! You promised that you'd tell me what's going on with you if I waited for you and you wrecked your side of the bargain. That's not cool. I've been your mate for hang on a tick, let me count the years… I don't know how many, but I know everything about… Oh. Oh, I'm sorry Vaughn. It's that time isn't it? I'm so sor-"

"Au revoir." Vaughn said, flipping his phone closed.

"So if I called you, is that what you'd do?" Sydney asked.

"What? No! No-way! It was just Weiss that's all."

"Rightio… And you speak French?"

Vaughn chuckled out loud. "Yeah, I do. My ma is French."

"Serious? So you're fluent?"

"Not quite. But I get by. Anyway, back to you. What's going on?"

Unsure how to answer, Sydney turned away and watched the passing traffic.

"Sydney?"

"Um, I might be moving again," she rushed out.

"Again? But why? You just got here!"

"I know, but it's my dad. We've moved around so much that he just wants me to go to one school and stay in one place. Basically, he wants to send me to some boarding school," Sydney said, still avoiding Vaughn's look.

"Wants to send you or sending you? Do you have a choice in it?" Vaughn asked.

"No, he told me after dinner, and I pretty much have no say in it what-so-ever."

"Are you serious? That's crap."

"That's what I think too. He told me-" Sydney said, clearing her throat to assume her father's low voice. "'-_at this school you'll have the time of your life and make life-long friends, unlike the place you're going to now. If you can list thirty reasons why you want to stay there to me, you can stay there. But my mind's made up and when you do realise that I'm looking out for you here, you'll thank me for making you do this_."

"Thirty reasons, hey? That's tough," Vaughn said thoughtfully. "So is that why you're out here now?"

"Yeah, I just had to get out of that house and clear my head."

"Fair enough," Vaughn said, leaning his head back on the cool glass of the booth. "So all this moving around, is that why you didn't want to join the athletics squad?"

"What? How did you know about that?" Sydney asked.

"Will told me. I saw you run today, you're really good!"

"No I'm not…" Sydney said, rolling her eyes at Vaughn. "I'm not, seriously. Don't get me wrong - I love to run and train by myself but when it gets to comps and team stuff, I just can't deal with it all. It probably doesn't make sense to you but…"

"It does, it really does. It used to be the case with me too. You see, my dad used to be like, a huge soccer fan. So ever since I could remember I always played soccer. But there was this one game. I can remember it so clearly. I was playing so awesome, and the coach at half time congratulated me in front of the team and made me feel on top of the world."

"How old were you?" Sydney asked.

"Nine. I had just turned nine."

"Oh, ok…"

"Anyway, so I came off the field, we had won the game. And everyone was really happy. I looked out for mum, but she wasn't there. She had been watching with my little sister, I knew that because I can remember waving at her. But by the final whistle, she'd gone and Mrs Weiss, Eric's mum came up to me and told Eric and I that we were going to go to the café. Which I might add, was really exciting for us. It took my mind off my mum and sis not being there…"

"Why did Eric's mum take you to the café?" Sydney asked him, encouraging him to continue his story.

"Because," Vaughn paused to take a deep breath. "Mum left my game to get to my dad's side in hospital."

"Oh my gosh." Sydney said, placing a hand on his arm.

"At half time, when I was being praised by my coach he was in an ambulance being rushed to hospital. During the second half, when I was playing, they were trying to resuscitate him. And his time of death was around the time of the final whistle," Vaughn said, his voice cracking with emotion. "I was celebrating winning the game and he had just died."

"I'm so sorry Vaughn, I really am."

"Don't say that, it wasn't your fault Sydney."

Sydney patted his arm, trying to comfort him. "You shouldn't have had to go through that, really."

"I wish I hadn't either. He was like, my hero. My dad was the coolest. I wish that my dad was one of these men," Vaughn said, indicating to the businessmen driving in the passing cars returning home. "I just want to see him one last time, and say good-bye."

"Vaughn…" Sydney softly said.

Vaughn looked at her and placed his hand on top of her. "Thanks. But after that I hated playing soccer games. I got a phobia of the full time whistle, and I was always paranoid that at the end of the match mum and sis wouldn't be there. So, just before the end of the game, I'd always ask the coach to pull me off or I'd fake an injury or I'd just run off. I just knew, that if I got off the field before full time it'd all be ok. But it didn't fix anything, he never came."

"Hey," Sydney said in a soft voice. "His anniversary is coming up soon isn't it?"

Looking down at their intertwined hands, Vaughn answered. "Yeah, it is. How'd you know?"

"I find that the memories, things you don't think about come flooding back around the time they died. All the small things you do in someway reminds you of them." Sydney shrugged a shoulder and turned back towards to road. "I know with my mum, I should have moved on a little and then it wouldn't hurt so much. But I still haven't been able to do that yet. And as hard as it is, I… I would rather feel it than to not feel anything."

"I understand" Vaughn said, squeezing her hand.

"I kinda wish that my mum was in one of those cars too, and she's heading home now," Sydney said longingly.

"So do I," Vaughn said. "So do I."

* * *

**A/N:** So the chapter was on a different note this time. And really long too! But I pinky-promise that the next chapter will be on a more lighter tone and a little bit happier. And because I'm on holiday's in a week, that's going to be sooner rather than later! How exciting :D 

Anyway, thanks to the following people:

**andrea kamille:** Yeah it was boarding school! How'd you guess?  Thanks for the review!

**dandan:** Mate, you're a champ  My Uncle taught me to play 52 pick-up…. On the beach of all places! It's funny now looking back, but it certainly wasn't at the time! Anyway, cheers for the review!

**Rachelle**: lol! You have got to be kidding me…! Yeah, I like that line too. And in this chapter, I tried to use dude more instead of mate! Did you notice:D Thanks for reviewing!

**Specialfrog**: Thanks so much for the pm – it certainly did make me get a wriggle on with this chapter:D Hope you liked it, and I promise that they'll be more to come!

**Meadow:** There's going to be more Marshall for sure mate! And I'm also going to introduce some other characters as well… some _main_ characters… But that's all I'm giving away so far! Glad you liked the update!

**anotherjournalentry:** I'm glad that you were excited mate! And I'm even more glad that you like this story! That makes me so happy! I just hope that this chapter lived up to your expectations…. Anyway, loved the review – thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for all the great reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias…

---

Previously on _'Mickey'_

"_Oi, who you looking for?" _

_Weiss looked up at the partially open shower door. "Huh?"_

"_I said, who you looking for?"_

_"Not you…"Weiss said, trying to peek around the door. "Have you always been in that shower?"_

_--_

_"He wants to send me to some boarding school," Sydney said, still avoiding Vaughn's look. "I just had to get out of the house and clear my head."_

_---------_

**Chapter Ten**

"Where have you been?" Mr Bristow asked as Sydney walked through the door.

"I just went for a run Dad," Sydney said, shedding her jacket after closing the door. "Nothing bad happened, I'm fine."

"Thank goodness," Mr Bristow said, rushing to his daughter and enveloping her into a big hug. "I missed you."

"Dad, it's been like, an hour and a half. I'm fine - I can look after myself now."

"I'm beginning to discover that out and frankly Sydney, I'm a little scared by it. You're my little girl," Jack pulled back from Sydney and smoothed her hair.

"Gosh dad, get a grip," Sydney said, laughing. "Rightio, I need a shower."

"Yeah, I think you do too…" Jack smiled and reached a hand to cover his nose jokingly. "I'll see you in the morning, ok? Night-night."

"Good night sleep tight," Sydney said smiling cheekily. "Don't let the chookie-bed-bugs bite!"

Laughing out loud, Jack Bristow lunged at his daughter who nimbly moved away from his outstretched hands.

"Getting slow in your old age, hey dad?" Sydney yelled over her shoulder, running all the way to the bathroom.

"You're going to regret you said that Sydney Anne Bristow!" Mr Bristow called out to Sydney's retreating back.

Chuckling, Sydney slammed the door closed behind her and made sure to flick the lock.

-----------

"So she's leaving?" Weiss said, walking up the front steps of the school. "That's a bit rough, especially since it's only been her what, third day here."

"Yeah, that's what I think too. She did say one thing last nightthat mightkeep her here," Vaughn said thoughtfully. "Except it may be a little hard."

"Uh! I still can't believe you dissed me last night, that was so un-called for. There was this guy in the shower and I was calling out all this stuff trying to get him to come out because I thought it was you, and when he came out it was like – ARGH! He must have thought I was some kind of perve or something. Seriously!"

"But you are Weiss," Vaughn said, laughing at his friend. "The girls dressing room. Need I say anymore?"

"That's completely different! You see, that's to do with chicks and a chick dressing room. You're lucky because you've got a little sister so you know about all that kinda-"

"Ew Weiss! That's completely gross!" Vaughn covered his ears and grimaced.

"But it's true!" Weiss pulled Vaughn's hands away from his ears. "Last night was to do with a guys dressing room..."

"What's the matter Weiss? Is there something you're not telling me?" Vaughn gasped, pretending to be shell-shocked.

"C'mon Vaughn, you know me bro. If any word of last night gets out, I'm gone. That's so wrong-"

"Wrong?" Vaughn said, interrupting Weiss. "Some people would be offended by what you just said."

"I know I know," Weiss said, becoming a little irritated. "Just let me finish for a sec. You missed the most important point of that sentence, you doofus."

"Your sentence had a point?" Vaughn said jokingly, softly punching Weiss in the shoulder.

"Yeah, it did…" Weiss said, pausing for a moment.

Vaughn stopped and watched his mate for a moment, and then checked his watch. "Uh, Eric?"

"Yeah?"

"The point?"

"Um, just wait a second…"

"You forgot it, didn't you?" Vaughn laughed out.

"No, it's just slipped out of my mind for a momentary second," Weiss said, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.

"It was about something being wrong and how you were perving on that poor unsuspecting dude last night and-"

_"Perving on him!"_ Weiss exclaimed, louder than he meant to consequently causing a few people to turn and stare at him. Lowering his voice he continued, "I was not perving on him!"

"If you say so," Vaughn said chuckling.

"But anyway Mike, that whole thing was wrong for my image. That stuff is just not me."

"Whatever Weiss. Just think of that poor guy, he's probably in therapy right now… All that heartbreak you caused him… Gosh Weiss, I bet he's probably permanently scarred and will never be able to use a shower in a dressing room again!"

"Shush you!" Weiss said, returning the punch Vaughn had given him a little earlier. "And he wasn't some poor unsuspecting guy either because he said some mean stuff to me!"

"Like what?"

"Well for starters," Weiss said, "he said…"

---

"Have a good day at school, sweetie," Jack said, patting Sydney on the shoulder before she hopped out.

"You too dad," Sydney said, leaning over to peck her dad lightly on the cheek.

"I'm not going to school though…" Jack Bristow tried to keep a straight face.

"Aw, c'mon dad. You know what I mean." Sydney rolled her eyes.

"One day Sydney, the wind might change and you-"

"-might get stuck that way forever," Sydney said finishing off what her father was saying. "Yes, I know. But still highly unlikely."

"Glad I've taught you something worthwhile then," Jack said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Yes dad…" Sydney said, reaching for the door handle. Pausing, she turned back to her dad. "Dad, about the discussion last night, I just-"

"No, don't worry about it Sydney. We'll talk about it this arvo when you get home, ok? You best be going."

"Yeah," Sydney said. "There's the first bell now. Talk later."

Slamming the door, Sydney slung her backpack over her shoulder and briskly walked to the stairs leading to the school.

----

"Hey Vaughn. Weiss."

Vaughn and Wiess turned to their left and looked around their lockers to see Will standing there.

"Hey Will! What's doing?" Vaughn said enthusiastically.

"Not much, mate. What's up with you two? I saw you both deep in discussion before and I'm really sorry, but I kinda overheard a few things."

Weiss looked at Vaughn and felt the blood drain from his face. "I'm not interested. I'm straight, I swear! It's just that I thought Vaughn was in there that's all, I promise."

"What?" Vaughn and Will asked in unison.

A blush coming to his face, Weiss turned away and fumbled with the bag in his hands. "Nothin'…"

"Anyway," Vaughn said, shaking his head, "what did you hear?"

"Oh, it was just something about Sydney leaving. Is it true?" Will wondered.

"Yeah, I was talking to her last night." Vaughn shrugged his shoulders. "She wasn't very happy about it."

"You talked to her last night?" Will asked.

"Well, we kinda ran into each other. Literally… And we just started talking and yeah… She told me that her dad's pretty adamant about her going to this boarding school."

"That's stupendous." Will shook his head. "Bugger! Lauren's going to have a field day today."

"What do you mean by that?" Vaughn asked.

"Well, first with Weiss and now with Sydney – her nemesis – now leaving, she's in like, gossip heaven," Will explained.

"Hang on a sec, what's this with Weiss?" Vaughn asked.

"What?" Eric poked his head back around his locker at the sound of his name.

"Well," Will said biting his lip. "There's this guy in grade eight who's telling everyone that Weiss was peeking over the door of his shower last night. He's told all these people, and most groups are talking about it. And apparently some people overheard you two talking about it this morning and that pretty much confirmed it. But yeah, that's all I've heard as yet."

"Are you serious?" Vaughn asked Will. "That's hilarious! Isn't it Weiss! Weiss? Eric?" Nudging him slightly, Vaughn tried to get Weiss to say something or move. "I think he's in shock, but if people talk to you about it, can you just simply deny it please? I think it's all a little bit of a misunderstanding."

"Sure thing. Do you reckon he'll be alright? He looks a bit pale…" Will waved a hand in front of Weiss' eyes. "Uh Vaughn, he's not blinking…?"

"He'll be fine. I think..." Vaughn said slamming his locker door closed. Piling the books Weiss held in his arms onto his own pile, he grabbed hold of his friend's shirt sleeve. "We better go. Which spare class are you in?"

"Class E. Why?" Will answered.

"Are you in our spare class!" Vaughn asked Will before turning to Weiss. "Did you know he was in our spare?"

Receiving no sign of recognition and no expression on Weiss face, Vaughn turned back to Will. "Well, we'll talk about all this later then ok? We best be off." Pulling on the sleeve, Michael half pulled half yanked Weiss in the direction of his form class. "See you later Will!"

"For sure," Will said, turning and walking away in the opposite direction to Vaughn and Weiss.

----

A/N: So I'm holidays at the moment and would you believe I've already had two weeks off :$ I'm really sorry about not updating lately but there's been some dramas of my own atm, but I have another week left and I'm planning on updating before I go back to school, so yeah… Just letting you know. :)

**nelope**: Glad you like it mate :) I hope you continue to do so as well :D

**28dOOMDoom28: **Did your grade seven teacher used to say 'Care factor – zero'? Because mine did too! Whoa! Strange thing that :S Anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter!

**specialfrog:** I hope this chapter was worth the wait, mate. And thanks so much for your feedback – it's truly encouraging.

**WyaRose:** Welcome! I'm glad you like this one! I must say, I really really like writing this fic, and it's comforting to know others enjoy it as well. Thanks for your reply, and I hope you liked the latest chapter!

**dandan: **Cheers for your review mate:) With this story, I'm only posting it at AA and here, butfanfiction has the latest updates… If that makes sense :S But yes! Thanks for ya message!

Thanks for all the positive replies, and feel free to keep them coming in. If you have any comments on the story or any suggestions on how to improve it, it'll help me a great deal! Cheers!

_**Next time: Weiss recovers, Sydney gets a 'boyfriend' and, together Will & Vaughn discuss ways to keep Sydney at their school. WHOA! Big chapter! And coming within the week :D**_


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Alias…

* * *

Previously on Mickey 

"_Well," Will said biting his lip. "There's this guy in grade eight who's telling everyone that Weiss was peeking over the door of his shower last night. He's told all these people, and most groups are talking about it. And apparently you two were both overheard this morning discussing it and yeah, that's all I've heard as yet."_

"Are you serious?" Vaughn asked Will. "That's hilarious! Isn't it Weiss! Weiss? Eric?" Nudging him slightly, Vaughn tried to pull Weiss out of the silent state he'd now gone into. "I think he's in shock," Michael told Will. "But if people talk to you about it, can you just simply deny it all please? It's all a little bit of a misunderstanding."

* * *

"Ow… What was that for?" Weiss asked, reeling backwards out of his seat after a push.

Sitting down in the seat next to him, Vaughn sent Weiss a mocking look. "I've been talking to Will for the whole spare on the other side of the room because you've ignored me."

"And that was a problem because…?" Climbing to his feet, Weiss sat back down in his chair with force. "Dude, the whole world doesn't revolve around you, you know. I was quite happy sitting here by myself."

"What's up your goat?" Vaughn asked with a furrowed brow.

"Uh, like you care. You never tell me about your problems and I always share mine with you."

Vaughn scoffed. "No you don't."

"Yeah I do. Remember when uh," Weiss tried to recall an incident. "Remember when Alan pissed on the living room floor?"

"That was your dog," Vaughn pointed out.

"Yeah I know, but I let you know how upset I was. It's been years since he was alive, and the only thing I have left to remember him by is that pee stain." Weiss took a deep breath, as if the thoughts were still so unbearably full of sadness. "So here's a thought."

"What?" Vaughn said looking sceptical.

"Never ditch a mate in need," Weiss said, attempting to look wise.

* * *

"Why is everyone staring at you dude?" Weiss asked as he walked towards the tuckshop line at morning tea that same day.

"I uh, don't think they're looking at me…" Vaughn bit his lip. "I think they're watching you."

"So they are! Hey! This is awesome!" Weiss waved to the people. "I must have really impressed them on the weekend at the game or something… Hang on a second, wait a minute... I didn't play on Saturday! This can't be about- no way!"

"Hey Eri-_ca­_!" A girl called as she walked past the two of them.

"Oi!" Weiss called after her, "the name's Eric. _Eric_ Weiss."

"Whatever, Eri-_ca_!" The girl laughed.

"Just ignore her Weiss, c'mon." Vaughn jerked his head in the direction of the line. "I'm hungry."

"Wait. There's something I need do." Not waiting for Vaughn to even ask what, Weiss climbed up onto the nearest table and loudly cleared his throat, gathering the attention of everyone in the crowded tuckshop area. "Excuse me!"

"Weiss!" Vaughn hissed. "Get down _now_!"

"No!" Weiss sent a dirty look at Vaughn. "It's your fault I'm up here in the first place. If you were in that shower and hadn't of nicked off, I wouldn't have to do this." Eric turned his attention back to the crowd. "I've heard that some twerpy little try-hard of a kid is spreading rumours about me in relation to an incident in the showers. Ladies, don't worry – I'm still yours – 'cause these are just rumours and there's no truth behind them what-so-ever. The little twerp is lying."

"How do we know it's not you who's not lying?" Someone called out from the crowd.

"Well," Weiss thought the question through carefully. "You um, don't but-"

"He's telling the truth," a voice piped up.

"What?" Weiss called, trying to find the voice's owner.

"Weiss isn't gay."

"Hey Syd!" Weiss jumped up and down on the table, causing the legs to creak and groan. "Tell everyone again!"

Walking forward, Sydney moved to the table where Weiss stood and faced the tuckshop area. "Eric Weiss isn't gay. He's telling the truth."

"And you know that because…?" A boy at the next table asked.

"Because…" Sydney paused and thought for a moment. "Because he's my boyfriend."

"He is?" The crowd asked in unison.

"I am?" Weiss exclaimed. "I mean, I am!"

Shaking her head, Sydney smothered a laugh.

"How about a little **_sugar_**!" Weiss said, jumping down from the table. Wrapping Sydney in a friendly bear hug, before whispering, "thanks so much for rescuing me."

"You're welcome," Sydney whispered back, smiling into Weiss' shoulder.

* * *

"That was really nice of you, you know?" Vaughn told Sydney after Japanese that day.

"Yeah?" Sydney asked, tilting her head at Michael. "Well, Weiss didn't deserve all that crap everyone was giving him before so I thought I could help him out."

Vaughn laughed. "You realise he's like, indebted to you for life now? He's going to try every which way he can to get you to go out with him."

"And that would be bad because…" Sydney jokingly said. "Seriously, I wouldn't really mind. But I doubt he will pester me. He's a good guy Weiss, and I'd be glad to be his friend. I told him so at morning tea today."

"Do you want to remain just friends with him though? Or would you want more?" Vaughn asked her, careful to watch her reaction.

"I reckon friendship is good enough for me right now - I've only just met him… If I wasn't leaving though, I'd have loved to have had the chance to get to have known him better – maybe not as girlfriend/boyfriend but maybe just as really good friends. If that makes sense at all…" Sydney said, hesistantly.

"Yeah, it makes perfect sense," Vaughn said happily, his walk now resuming its usual spring.

* * *

"So um, I've talked with Will and with Marshall, and they've agreed to meet with us now for lunch to organise the list," Vaughn told Weiss.

"List? What list?" Weiss asked.

"Gawd Eric! Concentrate." Vaughn let out an exasperated breath. "This is the last time I'm going to tell you this, ok! Sydney told me last night her dad wants to send her to a boarding school. Except she's sick of moving schools and would prefer to stay here so I was thinking we could write a list of reasons for her to stay."

"A list of reasons? How could that help her!" Weiss said, laughing at Vaughn's idea.

"Don't laugh Weiss. It's the only good plan we've got."

"Good plan? Nuh-uh, I bet I could think of an even better plan," Weiss told Vaughn.

"Like?"

"Um…"

"Yes?"

"Uh…" Weiss rubbed his forehead. "Maybe we should stick with the list.

"Just as I thought. But as silly as it sounds it could work, you know? Her dad gave her one condition: if she can list thirty reasons to stay then maybe she can," Vaughn said, smiling a small smile.

"Maybe? A maybe isn't a certainly!" Eric pointed out.

"Yeah, I know that but if we make a list not only can we show Sydney that we _want_ her here but her dad can see that she's happy with the school, and that may convince him to let her stay."

"But what happens if it doesn't work?" Weiss asked, looking doubtful. "I mean, we'd have gone to all that work for nothing."

"Weiss! This is one of our friends we're talking about. She saved your backside today! Sure, if it doesn't work – it doesn't work. But at least we can say that we tried."

"I'm in for it. So can we start now? I mean, Sydney's not here, she's running isn't she?"

"Yes! Gosh Weiss - you're like talking to a brick wall!" Michael said rolling his eyes. "We're waiting for Will and Marshall to arrive so we can start."

"Will? And Marshall? As in _Marshall_-Marshall?"

"Oh gawd," Michael said, burying his head in his arms.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading :)

**dandan:** Cheers mate! Your reply was quick as :P

**nelope:** Yeah I'm Aussie!Thanks heaps for ya review!

**specialfrog:** Was this one worth the wait...? I hope you liked the latest chapter.

**kiz-aliasrox: **lol hiya! Thanks for your kind words :)

_**Next time: Sydney faces another confrontation, and the boys together with an unexpected person make a start on the list**_


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias... :(

* * *

_**Previously on Mickey...**_

_"Gawd Eric! Concentrate." Vaughn let out an exasperated breath. "This is the last time I'm going to tell you this, ok! Sydney told me last night her dad wants to send her to a boarding school. Except she's sick of moving schools and would prefer to stay here so I was thinking we could write a list of reasons for her to stay. But as silly as it sounds it could work, you know? Her dad gave her one condition: if she can list thirty reasons to stay then maybe she can."_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

"So I'll see you after your run?" Vaughn asked Sydney that same day after lunch.

"Yeah… We have chemistry after lunch?"

"Yep. Fun, fun, fun!" Vaughn said, sarcastically. "You'll be ok?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. I've told Will and I'll tell you too, but a runner's best friend is an iPod. It's gold."

"Well, if you're sure."

"Oh, I am. I'll see you round."

"Yep ok!" Vaughn stopped and watched Sydney disappear down the hallway in the direction of the track. Not bothering to turn around, Vaughn rolled his eyes and called, "You can come out now."

"How did you know we were here?" Weiss asked, popping out from around the corner.

"How could I not know you were there!" Vaughn said with a laugh.

"I told you guys to be quiet!"

"Whatever Marshall," Weiss teased.

"Are you sure she's gone Michael?" Will stepped out from behind the other two boys.

"She's gone for a run. She'll be back when she's finished so we better start. Any of you got any ideas?"

"Well, I vote that we head to some place quiet so we can work. Any idea where to go?"

"The library?" Marshall looked around at the strange stares he was receiving. "What!"

Catching Will's eye, Vaughn nodded and said, "Sure, let's go now!"

And side by side, the four boys headed to the library together.

--

"You're back again."

'Sorry?" Sydney stopped short of her target.

"I saw you run here yesterday and the day before, and I wanted to see if you came back today."

"Well, obviously I did."

"Yeah. So, who are you?"

"Who's asking?" Syd said, lowering her bag of gear slowly onto the bench in front of her.

"You can call me Chase."

"Alright _Chase_, I'm Sydney."

"As in NSW capital city? Habour bridge? Opera House?"

"Yeah, as in that Sydney. Good to know someone's good at geography."

"So I know one city, big deal. Whatchu doing up here?"

"I'm running, or I'm planning to go for a run."

"Why I haven't seen you before?"

"Considering I haven't even been at this school for even a week yet, the chances of you knowing me are quite thin."

"Not even a week, hey? But no-one new has signed up for the athletics team yet. So why haven't you? Is that what you're doing today?"

"Actually no."

"Tomorrow?" Chase persisted.

"No, I don't really want to sign up."

"Seriously? Why not? You've got a good stride, I've seen you."

"Thanks. But I don't want to."

"Well, that's selfish."

"What!"

"Well, it is. You could help win the competition for the school, yet you're not willing to commit to the school's team and help them because you don't want to. I've never heard of anything more selfish in my life."

"Are you done?" Sydney said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, are you done? Can I go for my run now?"

"Only if you sign up for the team."

"There's no point me signing up for the team _Chase_, because I won't be at this school next week. So if I _did_ sign up, I'd be letting down the team more than if I didn't."

"Fine then. Go for your run." Chase shook her head. "See if I care."

"Gee thanks - you're _too_ kind."

--

"Will! Oi!"

"What Chase? How did you find me?" Will asked, looking up from the list the boys were writing.

"The library was the last place I thought you'd be, but I really need to talk to you. You know that chick Sydney? Well, I talked to her like you told me too, and boy! What a bitch!"

Vaughn rolled his eyes and covered up the list. "She's not a bitch."

"Are we talking about the same person here? Brown eyes, brown hair to around here," Chase said indicating to below her shoulders, "quite thin and answers to the name Sydney?"

"Sounds like her." Weiss said.

"I wanted to know why she hasn't signed up for the track squad and she said she simply didn't want to so I called her selfish, and that didn't go down very well."

"Jeez, I wonder why," Vaughn said, rolling his eyes. "She's going through a lot at the moment.

"Well, she said something-"

"-about being sent to boarding school?" Marshall asked, interrupting Chase. Looking around at the each of the guy's faces, Marshall reddened. "What?"

Chase sat down at an empty chair, dumbfounded at this piece of new information. "Sorry, I had no idea."

"Well, now you do." Will shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Pausing for a moment, Vaughn looked first to Will, then to Weiss and Marshall and then looked down at the piece of paper. "How good are you at writing lists?"

--

"The athletics squad is so much more important than the Home-ec class. I mean, Sydney could go to the Olympics with athletics!"

"She could go to the Olympics with home-ec too! The athletes have to wear clothes, Chase. Besides, there's a whole industry for designers. Haven't you heard of Chanel? Versace?" Marshall exclaimed, looking for a response in Chase. Receiving no sign of recognition he continued his list. "Sass & Bide? Ralph Lauren? Dolce & Gabbana? Bettina Liano?"

"Am I meant to know those names?" Chase asked.

Marshall rolled his eyes. "How about Lorna Jane then?"

Finally aware of a name, Chase nodded. "Yeah of course. But what's that got to do with home-ec?"

Becoming exasperated, Marshall took a deep breath to keep his 'cool'. "Duh, home-ec teaches you to sew and cook, _and_ is the starting block for designers."

"If you say so…" Chase still looked doubtful.

Seeing the irrelevance of the conversation, Vaughn piped up. "I have an idea. How about we don't list in matter of importance; how about we write them down just as we think of them. That way, we can have less arguments and more productive thinking time. At the rate we're going, Sydney's going to have graduated from boarding school and we'll still be here writing the list!"

* * *

**A/N:** I know, I know, I know… For any fellow queenslanders out there, or to anyone else who knows and has been through QCS, I feel for you! To those that don't know it, don't worry :D It's just a big exam... Either way, this chapter has been a long time coming, but hopefully it was worth the wait. Let me know if it was or wasn't, and I'll gladly take all your thoughts into consideration. :) 

**Aliaschickita47:** Thanks heaps mate :) I can't believe I left it so long to update... whoops :S

**jeyton4ever:** Hey! Cheers! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter :D Thanks for the review!

**Belle:** G'day fellow Aussie! It's nice to hear from another Australian lol :D

**specialfrog:** I hope this chapter was worth the wait too... :$ It sure was a long break between chapters. Anyway, thanks for the review!

**dandan:** Lol Happy to hear you liked the latest :) Cheers for reviewing!

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Anyway, thanks for reading and have a good one!


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for the reviews! Happy 2007 to everyone :)

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_**Previously on Mickey**_

"_The library was the last place I thought you'd be, but I really need to talk to you. You know that chick Sydney? Well, I talked to her like you told me too, and boy! What a bitch!"_

_Vaughn rolled his eyes and covered up the list. "She's not a bitch."_

"_Are we talking about the same person here? Brown eyes, brown hair to around here," Chase said indicating to below her shoulders, "quite thin and answers to the name Sydney?"_

"_It sure does sounds like her." Weiss said._

"_I wanted to know why she hasn't signed up for the track squad and she said she simply didn't want to so I called her selfish, and that didn't go down very well."_

"_Jeez, I wonder why," Vaughn said, rolling his eyes. "She's going through a lot at the moment._

"_Well, she said something-"_

"_-about being sent to boarding school?" Marshall asked, interrupting Chase. Looking around at the each of the guy's faces, Marshall reddened. "What?"_

_Chase sat down at an empty chair, dumbfounded at this piece of new information. "Sorry, I had no idea. Is there anything I can do?"_

_Pausing for a moment, Vaughn looked first to Will, then to Weiss and Marshall and then looked down at the piece of paper. "How good are you at writing lists?"_

* * *

"Question?" Weiss asked Vaughn. "What's Haldaki doing staring at us?" 

"Haladki?" Vaughn swivelled in his chair. "I hate that son-of-a-b….!"

"Who is this Haladki dude?" Marshall asked whoever was listening.

"Steve Haladki. Grade eleven. Straight B+ student. Reserve soccer player," Will informed.

"Also known as a loser or as Vaughn put so eloquently, a son-of-a-b…." Chase further explained. "He's a retard who is the biggest teacher's pet and always tries to come out on top of other people… and won't stop at anything to do so. Rumour has it, he broke into his old school's Principle's office and destroyed his file so that he could come to this school and have a clean record."

"If he did that, wouldn't he have gotten caught? How would anyone know that?" Marshall asked.

"Because he is such a big mouth and so full of himself he'll say anything to make himself seem tough. "

"Yeah, well, at the moment he looks like the cat that got the canary." Marshall said, chuckling. Seeing that no-one else was laughing, he stopped and sent around a questioning stare. "What?! I just meant he didn't look tough at all and he……"

"Where is he?" Vaughn asked, struggling to find him in the crowded library. "I can't find him."

"Just over there," Weiss pointed. "He's in the blue shirt."

"Dude…" Vaughn raised an eyebrow. "We're in school uniform, everyone has a blue shirt."

"Not everyone," Weiss insisted. "The teachers don't."

* * *

"Vaughn!" 

Michael turned around to see who called him. "Syd! Hey, how are ya?"

"Good good…" Sydney said with a smile, still trying to catch her breath from the dash she took trying to get from the oval to chem. in time. "What have you got there?"

"Uh nothing," Vaughn blushed. Shoving a fistful of papers into his bag he tried to shrug off Sydney's question. "It was just uh, what Weiss and I were working on during lunch… Some study notes – that's all."

"Oh ok." Pausing for a moment, Sydney thought and then turned back to Vaughn. "What for?"

"Sorry?"

"The study notes – what are they for?" Sydney repeated. "Is there an exam coming up? Because I don't know of any and the last thing I need is to fail an exam within the next few days…"

"Did I say study notes?" Vaughn forced a laugh. "Sorry, I meant semi notes. They're just some initial preparations for the semi-formal. Nothing to worry about!"

"Right…" Sydney looked hard at Vaughn, not quite believing him. "So have you got training this afternoon."

Relieved that Sydney dropped the subject of the papers, Michael brightened up. "Yeah! Do you wanna come?"

"To watch you train?" Sydney asked.

"You could do that too. I actually meant after training. See the squad goes down to the corner café after training, and anyone else who is invited or would like to go is more than welcome. So if you felt like coming and didn't have anything better to do… It'd be fun." Vaughn caught Sydney's eye and smiled when her cheeks reddened.

"Well," she said shyly. "I'll have to check if I'm allowed but yeah, it sounds good."

"Oh it will be," Vaughn guaranteed.

* * *

During the break in between lessons, Sydney wandered to the female bathroom to speak to her dad about her plans for the afternoon. Dialling the memorised mobile number, Sydney waited for her dad to answer. He didn't, so after leaving a message on his answering service, she moved to the door to go to the next lesson. 

"Oi, you!"

Turning around, Sydney saw someone at the basin. "You talking to me?"

"Damn straight I am." Tearing some paper towel from the rack provided, Lauren sashayed up to Sydney. "Couldn't help but overhear your conversation with your dad just then-"

"Of course you couldn't," Sydney muttered under her breath.

"And," Lauren continued, not indicating whether she heard Syd or not, "I just thought it was my prerogative to tell you that you aren't allowed go to the café."

"Really!?" Sydney chuckled. "Since when?"

"Since like, forever. Everybody knows that after-training gatherings are for cheerleaders and soccer players only. It's like, the rules."

"Oh…" Sydney nodded. "So say if someone just happened to walk past this café at the exact same time that the cheerleaders and soccer players happened to be there, this person wouldn't be allowed in? Is the place closed off completely from the public?

"No, the public is allowed." Lauren said, wrinkling her nose.

"Well, that's good." Sydney said with a smile. Looking down at her watch, she caught sight of the time. "Gee Lauren, I'm so sorry but I gotta run. See you later!"

"Wait!"

"What?"

"That person wouldn't be allowed in…" Lauren began.

"Really?" Sydney asked in surprise. 'Darn,' she thought. 'There goes that plan.'

"-if the place was being built or worked on. The group and the person wouldn't be able to eat there either. Occupational health and safety."

"Rightio... Well, bye Lauren."

"Bye." Lauren called, as the door swung shut behind Sydney.

* * *

"You invited _her_? As in Sydney?" Weiss asked Vaughn as he kicked the ball to him at training. "Mate, your girlfriend's name is Alice." 

"My ex-girlfriend… And yeah, she's meeting us on the corner after we're done here," Vaughn replied, as he lunged far to his right in order to trap the ball. "Geez Weiss, I'm standing right in front of you, not to your left. And not to your right for that matter either – just straight in front of you." Retrieving the ball, Vaughn passed it back to his mate.

Lifting only his right foot, the ball neatly rolled to a stop at Weiss' feet before once again, he kicked at it wildly.

"Weiss!!!" Vaughn called angrily as he dived for Weiss' pass. "Seriously mate, learn to kick straight!"'

"There doesn't seem to be a great urgency for me to be taught," Weiss said honestly.

"Are you serious? You're the goalie for god's sake?!? Haven't you heard of goal 'kicks'?"

"Oh…" Weiss looked at the ball and then to his brand new soccer boots and then back at Vaughn. "Oh…"

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_**Next time: What happens at the café?**_

A/N: Thanks to **Agent Bristow-Vaughn**, **nelope**, **specialfrog**, **dandan**, **jayton4ever**,** Tally-Ally** and **Aliaschickita47** for the wonderful reviews :)


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